On several occasions, after logging into Facebook, I was presented with some unusual popups. Where do they come from? What is it trying to do?

Section 1: My Arguments At-A-Glance
I suspect an ad on Facebook may be spreading a virus because of these events (in chronological order):

1. When I log in, I get a dialog box saying “Sorry, your browser is not WIN32 compatible.” This occurs on one specific ad. (Show me)
2. The system would work a bit harder than usual. It was found that the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) has started.
3. A pop-up would attempt to open. That was blocked by Firefox’s pop-up blocker. Additionally, I was prompted to save a .wmf file. I saved it for further inspection.(Show me)
4. Overriding the pop-up blocker would result in a pop-up. Upon inspection of the source, it opens another window.
5. Upon inspection of the new window, it tries to run a Java program. I inspected the source of that page and also downloaded the .jar file it tried to run.
6. I took the two files to Kaspersky and avast!. They both confirmed the existence of a virus in both the files.

Section 2: Confirmations
Over the course of the weekend, an article came up on Digg about the same thing happening on MySpace (reference).

Section 3: Conclusion
Because of the random displaying of advertisements, it is fairly unlikely to obtain these two computer viruses. The following actions will further decrease a user’s chances of obtaining these viruses:

• Keeping Windows updated with the latest security patches. The WMF exploit was discovered in December and patched around February.
• Having a pop-up blocker. Internet Explorer has one built in, but having Google Toolbar is a good extra layer of protection.
• Using an alternative browser such as Mozilla Firefox.
• Using Sun Microsystem’s Java Virtual Machine to run Java code instead of Microsoft’s Java Virtual Machine.
• Using a non-Windows operating system.

I got into my first accident today. There was a car in front of me that wanted to turn right, and as soon as it moved, I moved too. I bumped into the other guy as I was checking for oncoming traffic. I got out, made sure the folks are OK, and offered them my insurance and drivers’ license to copy down. After a while, somebody came from a nearby house, looked at the damage, and said that it’s my fault. The “witness” and the driver carried on a conversation in Spanish. They refused my information, but asked for money. I handed them my $25 and they drove away.

I retold the story to some folks, and they said that I was scammed. There are people who hit the brakes like that on purpose to set up a trap, and you can doubt that they even have a license, let alone insurance. Thankfully, it is only $25.

Today, I was made aware that people would use this scam, and that I will have to do a couple things to make myself wiser the next time I turn right at a red light and if I get into an accident like this again. As far as those two people are concerned, I have faith in justice, and hence I have faith that someone will take away their ill-gotten gains.

My EE and CS friends and I like to take crack shots at MySpace because of the people on there, the shoddy way they code the pages (try running the thing through W3C’s validators!), and the things they post, such as:

• Their so-called “exploits” that are hilariously stupid and self-incriminating
• Songs and lyrics
• Videos from YouTube
• … and other useless Flash widgets

By posting this stuff, they are all vying for attention. However, I am quite sure that any user will blow right through the text and start clicking on the useless Flash widgets, watching the videos, and listening to the songs (that is assuming that the page was not coded so badly, the browser crashes). We could care less about the person!

But I digress. Last Sunday, the power went out at the place that MySpace’s servers are housed at. The UPSs and generators failed to kick in and take over. Just that is enough to add some more ammunition to why MySpace is no good: Their infrastructure is frail! It is Network Engineering 101 that when you are running the number one site that teens visit that you would not only have redundant power backups, but have redundant copies of your site scattered throughout the US synchronized in as close to realtime as humanly possible! Or was this a coverup for something worse: Tom’s landlord suddenly demands this past year’s rent which he let slide when he bought the building and they were roommates. This brings me to the second lesson: Always pay your rent on time.

Snippet from Slashdot
Rules for the MySpace game

On a totally unrelated note, I can’t stop posting using HTML!

While watching the news on the good ‘ol rabbit ears last night, there was five-minute segment over how someone discovered Harris County library books in recycle bins.  If I remembered correctly, they mentioned going to four different bins.  That’s right — they found at least four dumpsters full of books, magazines, and things that cost taxpayers significant amounts of money.  If you watch the video, you may also agree with me that everything the director of the libraries said had no logical foundation whatsoever — just because books are “outdated” does not give you an excuse to throw them away because libraries exist to keep books that people may want to just read and return it to its owner.  I see a library as an archive of sorts.  In any case, there is absolutely no excuse to throw any book in good condition away because there are others that could make use of or need them.  For the record, this is coming from someone who does not read much literature.  I am clearly outraged by this kind of waste; and if I read something about America’s literacy rates going down, I will not be surprised.

News link: KHOU

Thank God for investigative reporting.

Although I have so many things I would like to get done, I still feel so bored!  Out of this boredom, I went on Google Video to surf for videos.  It so happened that one of Paris Hilton’s music videos was in the “featured” section.  Out of curiosity, I clicked on it.  For anybody who is in the same position, don’t bother — this woman has no talent whatsoever.  The video was only four-and-a-half minutes of her rubbing on someone’s body, which takes zero talent whatsoever.
I really wonder how people without talent manage to become famous.  Even a high school choir can do better than her.  Seeing that there was a tagging feature, I moved to tag it “slut,” as that was the first word that came out of my mind.  Too bad someone beat me to the punch…  Oh, well… that didn’t meant that I could not rate it down!

It’s been a while since I’ve watched movies because there was one time when the movies were laced with elements of unnecessary things such as sex and excessive violence.  Today, I watched Over the Hedge and RENT (I rented the DVD for that).  I found Over the Hedge to be one of the most hilarious movies I have ever seen in a long time.  It seems to me that whoever wrote the storyline to this hated his/her homeowners’ association with a passion.  Centered around all the animals’ search food (and all the destruction in the process) for food was Gladys’ house.  Gladys is the president of a homeowners’ association.  One of my favorite parts with her in it was her on the phone talking to someone because their grass was 2.5 inches tall instead of the 2 according to the regulations.

I have listened to the soundtrack for RENT countless times,  but that is only enough for analyzing the plot.  The real emotion of the plot can only be gained through watching the Broadway show (if you saw it that way, you’re a darn lucky person) or watching the movie.  Althogh the snips and edits were obvious, I found it impressive that most of the cast from Broadway’s show made it there.  My only gripes about the movie were how it left out the motif of parents’ care versus the children’s ignoring them as they grow up.  Also, had the producers wanted to add a little more emotional punch, they should have left “Goodbye Love” intact.

Anyways… more movie-watching fun as time goes on… I need some sleep!

I have been raised under the idea that if I work hard, I will get good money. I have also been brought up to red-flag anything that seems too good to be true. Well… I got suckered into going into this informational seminar about an opportunity to make money. Here’s my analysis of what happened: The speaker spent a significant amount of time talking about how business is done, how Wal-Mart succeeded, and how life for an average person is a brutal cycle of going to work and stuff like that. I’ll say that he was funny with his drawings and stuff.

He proceeded to talk about you as an “independent business owner,” how you would buy things from a company called quixtar.com and get cash back from it. Also, if you refer other people to do the same thing, you get a cut of their profits. Immediately, the red flag of “pyramid scheme” came up. But oh, was he prepared! He said that working at a corporation is like a pyramid too (CEO –> Managers –> Supervisors –> Employees). (Edit – 7/2/2006: At least your position in the corporate pyramid is relatively stable. These folks draw you like you’re on top of the pyramid, but what they forgot to do is zoom out… *evil grin*)

I was further turned off by the prospect of having someone use my cell phone, go through my contact list, and call (or *cough* spam *cough*) everyone on the list talking about this opportunity. Additionally, I had to pay about $117 upfront. For the record, I do not spam my friends unless I know them well enough to know what they need and I know of something that will truly benefit them.

I found it real ironic that this person talks about all these free trips and bonuses one gets to take, yet he talks about all the calls and stuff he has to make and respond to. Hmm… sounds like The Brutal Cycle of Work.

He was funny, he was extremely eloquent in his speech, and he put up a good fight against my shields; but he ultimately had nothing against my extremely cautious (if not paranoid) personality and those Canons of Engineering Ethics I have set myself to hold up — I have avoided a deceptive act.

So a few things I have learned or reinforced:

• 65% of people with college graduates go back to their home with their parents = FUD ALERT!
• Being funny at the right times will definitely help break down some barriers.
• Having a diverse knowledge base helps to relate to the diverse people around you and will also help break down barriers.
• My red flags are still functional.
• Friends only deliver deals and good stuff relevant to friends.
• Stay positive, even if the things going on around you are not positive.