03
Jul

mom-3-weeks-ago

This is my mom - Just slightly less than three weeks ago, giving me crap about my sarcasm…

Life has drastically changed for my mom since I took this picture.

I posted this update to dear friends at Experts Exchange:

“I’m beside myself tonight.  Mom is currently stable in ICU.  My bro is with her.  I am packing for an early morning departure from here to ICU.  Have been in tears all night (not for me - I promise) but because I just can’t let mom suffer.  How to proceed is the toughest question that we have ever had to address.  Am AFRAID for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, as is bro - how to make a decision for mom?  I don’t know how to do this, he does not know how to do this - blind leading the blind…I am truly afraid, he is more afraid.  What if I make the wrong decision, what if he makes the wrong decision and she suffers more?”

We are very new at this.  My mom was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons. She was moved from the the GEOPsy unit to ICU early this evening due to contracting aspiration pneumonia.  Our mom has literally fallen apart within a matter of weeks.  She did not have a living will.  We are now being asked by the doctor if we want her on life support.  We wish that we knew the answer…

<sigh>


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There was a question posted over at TwiTip regarding Twitter Bullies which is how this particular post started.

I have to admit that I’ve been privy to a few episodes of bullying on twitter since I joined in early February of this year.  I am sure that there are always plenty of other bully shenanigans going on around me, but I do not allow this to become part of my personal twitter experience.

The above paragraph may sound a bit callous, or it could make me appear to be indifferent to the suffering that surrounds emotional and mental abuse issues online.  For the record: I have a BS in Sociology, three years experience working with online organizations that deal specifically in cyber-abuse issues, three years of experience in high acuity units at a psychiatric hospital, and virtual experience of ten years plus dealing with varying degrees of online abuse.  I believe I am qualified to give intermediate advice regarding how to deal with online bullies!

Do you remember the schoolyard bully from yesteryear? The guy or gal who could raise an eyebrow at you, shake a fist, and make your knees turn to jello?  Perhaps even make you pee your pants? Those dreaded schoolyard bullies often grew up and took on abusive-style roles in adulthood too.

Emotional, mental, or physical abuse are areas that often invite a typical schoolyard bully to continue to embrace abusive-type behaviors as an ongoing ‘lifestyle of choice’ throughout the human lifespan.  Yes, bullies can make choices too!

Wikipedia: The National Crime Prevention Council’s definition of cyber-bullying is “when the Internet, cell phones or other devices are used to send or post text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another person. Other researchers use similar language to describe the phenomenon.

The number ONE rule in order to stop bullying in its tracks, is to turn on the IGNORE rule.  The bully no longer exists once you have turned on this rule.  There should never be any contact in any form ever, remember that the bully now ceases to exist.

The number TWO rule is to not give out any personal information online that you do not want everyone to know about!  There are people in the virtual-sphere that do not have your best interests at heart, and they could possibly ignite a stalking nightmare that could take years to extinguish.  You don’t want to go there!

The number THREE rule is to never engage in a battle of damaging tweets on twitter!  I have seen it in the raw and it is abrasive, derogatory, and often constitutes defamation of character.  I was shocked to observe a very popular twitter guy with almost 100K followers, stalked by an irate follower who ruthlessly displayed prior criminal record dirt in order to engage the masses. The guy who was attacked by his prior criminal record had to literally create a video to explain his naughty record.   After many direct messages from his attacker to me, I basically told the attacker that I was not interested in digging old dirt and that he needed to move on.

The number FOUR rule is that if the online twitter-bully refuses to stop bullying you, you need to seek help! Please do contact me regarding your particular situation and I will be happy to direct you to the appropriate available resources in order to assist you.

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Ed Bennett, manages Web services at the University of Maryland Medical System, and maintains a Hospital Social Network List. I found his list to be quite impressive, outlining hospitals that tweet, blog, facebook, and Youtube!  Alas, I was rather disappointed that the list did not include hospitals in New Hampshire or Vermont.  Though hospitals have been conservative by nature, some are finally breaking the mold!

Ed’s list: June 15, 2009 - U.S. Hospitals that use Social Networking tools:

* 297 Hospitals total
* 142 YouTube Channels
* 109 Facebook pages
* 213 Twitter Accounts
* 26 Blogs

Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston blogs!  Two Stories on Florida Hospital’s Interactive Care Experience are posted on Youtube, expounding patient empowerment as an industry trend in health care.  Mayo Clinic appears on Facebook as a group with 7500+ fans.  If we include Ed Bennet’s blog about The Top Ten Hospitals on Twitter, this could be indicative of possible trends that could be here to stay!

Until next time - stay safe online!


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puttyHackers are at it again, trying to break the webserver login/password at Teksquisite. On a daily basis I see reports of failed login attempts from hackers utilizing automated scripts (dictionary attacks.) Some of the favorite login names that they look for are:

root, admin, administrator, sales, and samba

An example of the most recent attack against my webserver was recorded at 9:21 am this morning:
X failed login attempts to account samba (system) — Large number of attempts from this IP: 221.10.62.28

This particular IP appears to belong to China Beijing Sichuan University Network Education Institute. How did I gather the IP information? If you are not using a UNIX system and are using windows you can download Sam Spade. I tried an nslookup from Sam Spade for IP 221.10.62.28 but there was no reverse DNS, so that particular function was not very helpful.

A generic whois from Sam Spade listed the IP from the Network Information Centre Asia Pacific Network and that I could get the information that I was seeking from Apnic.

From the APNIC site I performed a Query to the APNIC Whois Database Using 1st level less specific and associated reverse domain settings.  According to Apnic query return, the University owns 7 IP addresses: 221.10.62.24 - 221.10.62.31 and the abuse contact is: abuseATcnc-noc.net.

I run an apache webserver and I receive instant notification during any hacking attempts because I use Brute Force Protection and Host Access Control.  If you want to know how to prevent brute force attacks please read this informative article over at Bodhost.com on Preventing Brute Force Attacks and from thewebhostinghero.com: How To Protect Your Webserver From Brute Force Attacks.

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If Protection System somehow downloads itself to your computer (via a Trojan or bad URL), do not purchase this program!  It is just another piece of malicious malware, posing as scareware in an attempt to coerce you into purchasing the full version of their product.

Once this rogue program is installed on your computer, it will load at start up and perform numerous false scans.  It will also bombard you with security warnings, system alerts, and BUY ME TO UNBLOCK FULL VERSION nag screens.  If you fall prey to purchasing this partiular nasty — it will do nothing but bloat your operating system, try to uninstall current legitimate malware removers such as Malwarebytes, and make your computer run noticeably slower.

To get rid of Protection System cruise over to the Remove Protection System (Uninstall Guide)  at Bleepingcomputer.com.  You will also need to download and install Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Until next time - stay safe!

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