That One IT Guy

To be perfectly honest, blog security is one thing that really never crossed my mind.  Sure, I should have strong passwords that protect my admin side, databases, and FTP connection but for the most part it never really struck me that I should secure it further.  I’ve learned my lesson now.

A few days ago I went to post a new article on the site and noticed I was receiving a PHP error when I loaded the site.  It was 11 at night or so and I didn’t really have time to troubleshoot so I figured I would take a look at the issue at lunch the next day.  I uploaded the replacement core files of wordpress (the ones that don’t hold any personal data) hoping that would resolve the error and infact it did, but it shed light onto the real cause of the issue… hackers.  Now I’m not saying the Shareesh in Mumbai found my site, checked the permissions on my blog and found out they were writable to the world (I know, huge oversight on my part), edited the file and added bits of javascript to load popups and other malicious software to all computers that visted my website.  What I am saying is that an automated bot scoured the internet looking for wordpress blogs with world write permissions, edited the files it knew of and tacked on a 4 line java script that would re-direct the visitor to a website to install a piece of malware that would effectivly turn the computer into yet another zombie computer that scours the internet looking for weak wordpress blogs to prey upon.  Sound like science fiction, the last part is actually a reality.  Anyway, I’m off on a tangent.

The fact is,  if it wasn’t for Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari I would have never known there was malware installed on my site because they both have built in systems that help prevent the spread of software like this.  If you visited my website in the past 2 weeks with any windows machine, I would higly reccommend running a full adware/virus scan just incase.

You will also notice that I’ve changed themes yet again and the blog is looking a bit bland.  I’m working on this so just hang tight.  If I had time and a bit of patience I would try to design something all by hand but then I would never get content posted.

So we all learned a lesson today, if you host a wordpress blog, be sure and tighten security.  I’ll put up an article on how I secured things once I’ve finished.

This is my first attempt at faux tilt-shift lens effects. Taken in Piccidilly Station, Manchester, United Kingdom

I’ve been living in Dublin now for about 8 months.  I tried my best to shed the Texas accent I knew I could get away with back at home and adopted a generic American accent when I came over to try and not draw too much attention (by attention I mean laughter) when I say “ya’ll”.  8 months later that generic American accent is starting to make its move across the pond into something that resembes a muddled jumble of words that doesn’t really know where its from.  When I speak everyone still knows I’m American but some people have commented that I’m starting to fit in here.  Here are 5 words and phrases I’ve picked up since living here.
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I love living abroad.  It opens up your mind and body to try new things and culture yourself with the people around you.  There are times when you miss home and even the most exciting night out can’t extinguish these feelings.  One remedy I have found for home sickness is to get in the kitchen and cook the foods that remind you of home.

The Internet is a wonderful place, full of people writing about their lives and sharing their experiences.  One such person by the name of Lisa authors a blog called HomeSickTexan.  Lisa is in the same boat as myself, living somewhere other than Texas but longing for the tastes and smells that she grew up with.  Her posts detail a particular dish, why she loves it, where she has had the best of it and a recipe for the food that is closest to what she remembers.  Simply searching through her recipe index is enough to make your mouth water and with her being an excellent photographer, it doesn’t help the hunger reflex.  After finding this site, I set off into the kitchen to try my best to make my favorites on her site.

Mrs. Jackson’s Pralines 

I love pralines and its not something I have had it a very long time which made me want them more.  After following the recipe, I came across a few things that I knew Tesco wouldn’t stock such as Kayro Syrup and pecans.  I was wrong about the pecans (a whopping €5 a bag) and the Kayro came under another name, Lyles Golden Syrup.  I had everything I needed to make up a good batch of pralines.   I put all the ingredients into a pot and started stirring… then I stirred, and stirred some more.  I stirred while it was clumpy, I stirred while it was creamy.  I even stirred when the hot bits of sugary goodness leaped out of the pot and attempted to bond with my arm.  That’s how dedicated I was to these pralines.  Sadly, they never became proper pralines, they just existed in a gooey runny fashion until my fiance made me throw them out.  They tasted wonderful, but it just wasn’t the portable version of the snack you know.  I must prefect my recipe and buy some welders gloves to keep the sugar lava off my skin.

Breakfast Sausage

No [respectable] breakfast should be without Owens breakfast sausage.  I didn’t realize how much I love the stuff until I didn’t have it.  The Irish have sausages, but they aren’t the same.  I could eat black and white pudding (black pudding is blood sausage mixed with bits of barley, sliced into patties and fried) which are fantastic, but nothing beats breakfast sausage.  HomeSickTexan had a recipe on her site but after trying it, I found it was a bit too healthy (its not from Texas if it doesn’t go straight your your arteries) for me and the taste just wasn’t spot on for me.  I found another recipe on FoodNetwork.com by Alton Brown which was spot on.

I went to the butcher’s next door and asked for a pork belly ground up with the fat.  What I got back was about 2 kilos of ground pork with a 60/40 meat/fat ratio.  This seems like a lot but after trying the recipe with a very lean ground pork, it just didn’t come out and Alton’s recipe emphasized the presence of fat.  On the way home, I stopped at SuperQuinn and picked up some fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary.  When I got home I mixed all the ingredients together and formed some quick patties and threw them in the skillet.  As soon as they started to cook, I could tell just by the smell that I had done a good job.  I stood in awe as ate my newest creation, astounded that I had pulled it off.  No one else really understands why it was such a big deal, but it was.

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken fried steak was the first solid food I had after baby formula and I have been eating it non stop ever since.  Surprisingly enough, the Irish don’t really think that pounding a steak to bits, coating it in flour and deep frying it with their chips would be that pleasant.  On top of that, cream peppered gravy isn’t something often made, therefore you can deduce that no Irish man/woman in their right mind would make a chicken fried steak.  This is where I come in.

Sure you can go to any respectable restaurant in Texas and get a chicken fried steak, but how often do you actually make one yourself.   Its very very easy.  Priscilla and I went to Tesco to pick up bits and pieces and I decided in the store that I was going to go home and cook some chicken fried steak.  We found a round steak for about €3, bought a meat tenderizer and went home and started cooking.  Never using a meat tenderizer, I got the steak and started to beat the hell out of my meat tenderize it.  Once it had doubled in size I dropped it in the flour/salt/pepper mixture, then into the egg and milk, then into the flour again and into the hot oil.  Cooked for 3 minutes on one site and 4 on the other.  Had some prepackaged gravy that you mix with water and Priscilla did the mashed spudatoes.  All I can say about that meal is that it will be cooked on a weekly basis in our house from now until I die.

Cooking with raw ingredients and not pre-packaged foods is an amazing thing, especially when you make something fantastic.  I’m not a health nut, but it is nice to know that when you make breakfast sausage, you know exactly what is being put in it.  Go search the sites I mentioned and find something that makes you happy.

*Image curtosity of HomeSickTexan.blogspot.com