Morrisman's Musings...
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Jen S." journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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11:03 am
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Comic....
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/snopes.png
mood:  amused
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01:58 am
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Another reason I use a Mac...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10223716-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
SAN FRANCISCO--Security firm Finjan has uncovered what it says is one of the largest bot networks controlled by a single cybergang, with 1.9 million infected zombie computers.
The botnet has been in use since February, is hosted in the Ukraine, and is controlled by a gang of six people who are instructing the Windows XP-based machines to copy files, record keystrokes, send spam, and take screenshots, Ophir Shalitin, Finjan marketing director, said in an interview on the eve of the RSA security conference.
The gang has compromised computers in 77 government-owned domains in the U.S. and elsewhere, he said. Nearly half of the infected computers were in the United States. Nearly 80 percent of the infected computers are running Internet Explorer, while 15 percent are using Firefox, Finjan said.
The criminals operating the botnet can make as much as $190,000 in one day renting out the zombies to others, according to Finjan Chief Technology Officer Yuval Ben-Itzhak.
The command-and-control server being used to control the infected PCs is instructing the bots to download and execute a Trojan horse, which is detected by only 4 out of 39 antivirus products, said Shalitin.
The Trojan installs malicious executables that communicate with other computers, inject code into processes, visit Web sites, and other activities the user has no involvement with, according to a post on the Finjan Malicious Code Research Center blog.
"Overall, the cybergang can remotely execute anything it likes on the infected computers," the post says.
mood:  contemplative
music: "Hallelujah"-- Jeff Buckley's version
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01:00 am
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Glenn got his wish!!!!
mood:  excited
music: "All the Pretty Little Horses"- Joan Baez
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03:33 am
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Outtakes of "Pirates of the Klondike"... (some funny stuff)
Some friends and I shot a commercial called "Pirates of the Klondike" in late June, 2008, which was our entry into Klondike Bar's amateur commercial contest--
We didn't win, but Great Zot, we had so much fun doing it! Now, believing that every video should have outtakes, here they are--
mood:  happy
music: "Summersong"-- The Decemberists
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10:59 am
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"Bruremarsj frå Jämtland" (translated- "Weddingmarch from Jämtland")
The video isn't much, but this is currently one of my favorite tunes. I was introduced to the music of Norwegian alt-folk band Gåte by my sweetheart's sister Siri, who gave me one of their CDs for Jul. Their unusual dialect is from near the border of Norway and Sweden, Jämtland being a Swedish city that used to be part of Norway until borders shifted; even the title uses both the letters å and ä, which are the same letter in Norway and Sweden, respectively. I've been told that since regional dialects are dying out, any band that possesses a regional dialect automatically achieves additional exposure and popularity. It's pretty obvious that Gåte isn't singing this in a wedding march style, but it's a great tune.
If you want something more along the lines of a Scandinavian wedding march, I love this one by Sissel Kyrkjebo. Listen to the vocal inflections! :-)
mood: cheerful
music: This tune, by Gåte...
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10:56 am
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The Baa-studs! (thanks, Gilmoure!)
mood: Highly amused...
music: "Bruremarsj frå Jämtland"- Gåte
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05:53 pm
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Getting rid of things...
Free to whomever emails me and can pick these up-- four of the 5-gallon carboy bottles for brewing or vintning.
mood: geeky
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10:49 pm
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Found on a gamer-geek forum...
No, I'm not a gamer-geek, my sweety is...
"Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night.
Throw a man in a fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
mood: amused
music: "Every little thing"- Bob Marley
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05:37 am
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One day my truck will die...
One day my big ol' growly truck will die, and I have found it's replacement!
Watch Out, Batmobile
Summer road trips will never be the same...
mood: amused
music: "Wish You Were Here"-- Blackmore's Night
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06:01 pm
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A different note about the inauguration...
Many of my friends have eloquently told what they think about the inaugural ceremony yesterday, and I agree with many of them. I got choked up during some parts, I felt a strong optimism, questions came to my mind, but something I really appreciated was the four-piece ensemble that played "Air and Simple Gifts" between the swearing-in of Biden and the swearing-in of Obama. It included Yo-Yo Ma along with Itzhak Perlman, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill. As multicultural as you could get, an Asian cellist ("There's always room for Cello!"), a Jewish violinist, an Hispanic female pianist, and an African-American clarinetist! Way to go!
Plus, they sounded fantastic, and it's not easy to play at 28*F (17*F windchill).
mood: good
music: "Six Ribbons"-- Jon English (mushy romantic stuff)
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06:23 am
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Etymology, Tinne, glaciers, bokmål, Siri, and backpacks...
For the last three and a half months I've been studying Norwegian, and right from the start I found that reading it was easy. I learned a few language rules, dialectal constructs, the pronunciation, and speaking it started making sense. The one thing that astounded me about Norwegian is how much of our own English is derived from it! There is no mistaking where our language predominantly came from. We've all been told that English is a mixture of this, that, romance languages, etc., but it turns out that the roots of Danish and Norwegian also comprise about 80-90% of *our* words! For example, basic words of ours like "also" come from "også", which is pronounced with the "o" sounding like the "o" in "log", the "g" silent, and the "så" sounding like the "so" in "soda". You say it together, and it sounds like "aw-so". The majority of our words come to us that way-- like "det" is "that", "de" is "they", "godt" is "good, "natt" is "night", and the list goes on.
I have always, always liked etymology, and starting a couple months ago I realized that many of our English words that have no apparent sensible meaning in English also come from the same roots as modern Norwegian. The word that hit home tonight was "rucksack". I've always known that word to mean something like a duffle bag or backpack. Tonight I was looking at a picture that Janne's sister Siri had posted of herself on a hiking trip. Siri reminds me of our own Tinne and her camping/hiking expeditions, but Siri prefers frozen mountains and glaciers. In the photo she was waiting at a ferry boat dock on a beautiful fjord with all her gear, and the sign beside her said, "Ryggsekker til Gjendesheim". I know "til" means "to", and Gjendesheim is the giant mountain, but I didn't recognize the verb "ryggsekker". Looking up "rygg sekk", it means "back sack"!
And there you have it. The field of etymology has been opened wide anew for me.
(As a noun, "ryggsekker" means "backpacks"; used as a verb on that sign, it means "backpacking".)
More about modern Norwegian, called "Bokmål"--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokmål
mood: Geeky
music: "Knut liten og Sylvelin"-- Gåte
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05:39 pm
[link] | Jeg er veldig glad for å bli elsket så mye...
mood: loved
music: The "ting" sound the iPhone makes when a text arrives from Norway...
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06:26 am
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3 weeks later...
...I'm home. And I most certainly did not want to leave.
mood:  tired
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06:53 pm
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A quick follow-up...
Okay, this is very cool... dinner was an assortment of delicious veggies, potato, and reindeer! :-)
mood: happy
music: "Wallace and Grommet" in the background...
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05:35 pm
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Today...
Today we went to the Oslo Vikingskipshuset (Viking Ship Museum),
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_Ship_Museum_(Oslo)
followed by the Kon Tiki museum,
http://www.kon-tiki.no/Ny/Dok_eng/e_start.html
watched some ships in the harbor, and the went to the Norwegian Folk Museum (Norsk Folkemuseum),
http://norskfolkemuseum.no/en/
and took a ton of photos. The Vikingskipshuset was fantastic, took lots of pictures and some video, and enjoyed the day immensely. Janne was feeling a bit under the weather, so I went with her sister Siri, Siri's oldest daughter and a friend. The exhibits were wonderful, the artwork and carving was unbelievable, and if you *ever* wanted to see the underpinnings and tools of a Viking ship, they were all laid out to study and photograph. The jewelery, tools, and treasures from a couple Viking ship-graves were not only beautiful, but it turns out that the best ship in the museum and its treasures were dug up just a mile or so from my sweetheart's house in the hills near Tønsberg! Her sister Barbro's boyfriend was driving me to the Tønsberg Art Museum a couple days ago and he was trying to point out where it was, then just turned the car around and drove me down a side road to where the mound still is from digging up the ship and grave... just blocks from her place!
Tomorrow is the KulTur Middag, a dinner for the folks who belong to their little 'sight-seeing club'... 'Kult' means 'cool', and 'Tur' means 'tour'.
Dinner is ready, and I need to run if I want to sit at the adult-end of the table. :-)
mood: excited
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12:15 am
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HNY!
Happy New Year, everyone! We just celebrated here, with everyone in the neighborhood shooting off fireworks, champagne, hugs and kisses, etc. We're already in 2009, six hours ahead of those of you at home. :-)
Hugs,
Jen and Janne
mood: happy
music: Auld lang syn
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05:10 pm
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Norway, 12/28/08
Oh my god. Norwegians, I've heard, have an insane appetite for partying, and I've found this to be true.
So all the teenagers left town Friday night to go to another relative's place, and we went to dinner at the Bombay Indian restaurant which was very good. I had sort of noticed the place the first time I was in Norway, and it was quite good.
(Note: it feels really cool to be able to say, "Oh, on the second trip to Norway..." as if I was here most of the time or something. Actually, since the beginning of Thanksgiving vacation, I *have* been here most of the time!)
On Saturday December 27, we were picked up by Janne's step-dad Ragnar and whisked off to her sister's place, had a drink while waiting for other friends to show up, then we car-pooled to the Gamme a few miles away in the woods, up a ground-torch lit path. A Gamme is like a viking cabin-think with a large fireplace in the middle, and tables around that where we all had more drinks, about 3 different kinds of meats, boiled potatoes and a couple kinds of sauerkraut, then gløgg (pronounced kind of like glug) that was so heavily spiked that it was almost funny. Well, it *was* funny, we were making jokes about it, but the level of humour at that point might have also been gløgg-induced.
After much fun, we took off again (thankfully Ragnar was dedicated driver) to the FarmenParty, where several folks have a huge red barn converted into a serious party place with bandstand, dance floor, bar, seating... and the downstairs of the bar is the guys' collection of antique cars! Many of them are rare old American iron, as these guys are fans of big old American hot rods. Janne's nephew was one of the bartenders and he always looked for family as priority at the bar. :-) We occupied the best table there and had way too much fun with her sister and friends, then she and I left early at 2:00 even though I understand that the party went on for hours longer.
Today I walked through town, as far as The Tower was on my right. The Tower is beautiful, and I toured the fortress' grounds the last time I was here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%B8nsberg_Fortress
I practiced my Norwegian by asking directions and confirming street names, stopping into a convenience store, and reading everything I could see on my 'by tur', my city walk... min Norsk språk is improving daily, and I may not be able to entirely hold my own yet but I'm getting there.
I'm not sure what the next few days hold, but I'll see when we get there. :-)
mood:  content
music: Songs from "Master and Commander* on TV...
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05:36 pm
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Norway, update 2... December 26th
Julaften (Christmas Eve) was spent at Janne's sister's house with a huge feast, a ton of family, gifts, and a variety of different traditions that I really enjoyed. Also, the most beautiful Christmas tree I've probably ever seen. I had a really mixed set of emotions going on, but mostly really good- this was probably one of the most relaxed, fun, welcoming Christmases I've been a part of in a couple decades. Even as much as I loved my former in-laws, the very English way that everything had to be followed was very rigid, whereas the Norwegian traditions and family-style are very laid-back, and they really only care that you have enjoyed yourself.
I went for a 6 or 7 mile walk Christmas morning and watched the sunrise- it was just beautiful! I noticed, though, that here it takes longer for the sun to rise. From the first glint of red on the horizon until the sun actually peeked over the horizon was probably close to a couple hours.
Something else really cool here- there is a ban on TV ads for anything commercial during the days around Christmas! They can only show ads from non-profit or charity groups on TV between the fun Jul shows. I had no idea Disney was so prevalent on TV here, too; my brother (an art director at Disney) will be tickled to hear that.
Tonight, December 26th, is Andre Juledag, and we hung around the house eating leftovers, going outside to enjoy the bright, clear day and everything covered in white, and tonight Janne and I are going into town to one of her favorite Indian restaurants for a nice break away from others, just having a dinner to ourselves.
Current Location: Tønsberg, Norway
mood:  full
music: Hardanger fiddle, can't even begin to spell the name of the song...
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10:28 pm
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A quick update from Norway, 12/22
Okay, random thoughts, in brief...
Delta Airlines sucked just as badly as the last time I used it a few years ago. The flight attendants were mildly inappropriate in front of passengers, and some other stuff... I'll do my best to use Northwest or KLM from now on, who I flew with round-trip last time and who I'll be flying home with this time; they were all MUCH more professional and nicer, newer planes with more amenities.
Also, the first plane, the 1:20 flight to Atlanta, lost a large piece of trim from over the luggage compartments about five minutes after we took off, fortunately it didn't hit anyone. Nothing that I know of fell off the other two planes!
This is taking forever for me to type, as almost all the punctuation on a Scandinavian keyboard is in a different place than I'm used to, except for periods, commas and exclamation points, plus it has the letters ø Ø, æ Æ, and å Å. You just have to watch what happens on the screen a bit more carefully. All the extra letters are near the apostrophe key and enter key, so if I use my right pinky or any punctuation then I usually have to go back and change something... sigh...
Images will be forthcoming shortly... I just started using my regular camera on my birthday, was using my iPhone before that since I had that handy... but I don't have phone service here... and am kind of enjoying this little break from phones, knowing that I'll be back to the usual in 2 1/2 more weeks. I miss having internet wherever I am, though, like having Google Maps or Google Translator at the touch of a button, instant weather reports for where my family lives and where I am now, and being able to email photos directly from the phone.
Today (Monday) we hit the local mall for a few last holiday items. While we were out we got word that her stepdad, sister, niece and kid-niece were all out shopping too, so it was a saving grace from the crowds to arrange meeting them at a third-floor café overlooking the town square and have mochas and hot sandwiches.
Janne's family are all *so* nice! About 16 of us hit a restaurant last night on my birthday to jointly celebrate with her nephew and stepdad since their birthdays were a couple days before and one day after, her stepdad paid for us before I knew it (the language barrier there... I asked Janne about the cheque and she told me that Ragnar had already gotten it), then we all went to her sister and brother-in-law's place for "coffee and cake"-- that turned out to be 6 hours of coffee, tea, chocolates, cakes, later champagne and wine... and that's where we're having Christmas Eve, whoo boy. And I thought I was in a food-coma *last* night, I'm glad I don't have to drive anywhere here!
Things are going just dandy between Janne and me, and we're getting on great- she is adorable. Her siblings, nephews and nieces, and her kids Susanne ("Soo-zah'-neh", just turned 16) and son Benjamin ("Ben'-ya-min", almost 18) all like me. Her daughter is afraid to use her 9 years of English classes on me- she says that the words just get all stuck. As soon as I ask her something, she spins around and calls out "Mommaaa!" and asks in Norsk for Janne to tell me what she wants to say. So, I prefer to talk to her when Janne says she's too busy to translate. ;-) That way I at least get short-answers. There are always plenty of hugs and smiles. :-)
Speaking of translating, I'm doing much better than when I was here just a month ago. I can express myself a lot more confidently, and I can read at least 4x as much as I could the last time I was here! My vocabulary has improved a lot... something to be said for 'total immersion', eh? I can seriously credit a love of etymology for helping me figure out new words. I also picked up the "Teach Yourself Norwegian" book/cds at Borderæs Books. I ripped the two CDs to my iPod and listened to them on the plane or here when there's downtime and I have the book handy. Norsk is not that difficult at all, just learning the vocabulary takes time and learning some of the crazy pronunciations... things like "sj" sounds like "sh", and "kj" sounds like a really light, soft "sh" but with your tongue near the roof of your mouth right behind your front teeth and the sides of your mouth smiling instead of pursed like a normal "sh". There are also other letters that change their sounds when in conjunction with other letters, similar to English.
Right now Susanne and her friends are watching the Disney Channel, and it's so strange to have Mickey and gang speaking in Norwegian in slightly different voices. Mickey sounds close to what we're used to, but they got Donald down perfectly... but yes, speaking in Norsk-Bokmål!
Okay, off to do some holiday stuff!
Current Location: In the hills North of Tønsberg, Norway
mood: happy
music: Some pop music...
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07:21 pm
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Shortest Birthday of the Year...
...is tomorrow. Janne's step-dad Ragnar is picking us up tomorrow afternoon and we're joining many more family members for a birthday dinner. Mine is 12/21, his is 12/22, so everyone is showing up and it will be fun... and afterwards the whole gang to her sister's for en kopp koffe og kake!
(Okay, "cake" is "kake", one of the few words in Norsk that I don't care for- it sounds like 'caca'.)
Current Location: Tønsberg, Norway
mood: excited
music: "Lilac Wine"- Jeff Buckley
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