I went to iTunes to download an album I had given to my mother, “hOMe For the Holidays” — an EXCELLENT mix of christmastime grizooves (check out the “Charlie Brown Cut Up” ) and one of the “top downloads” was from an album called Holiday Lounge. Lo and Behold, my boy Ohmega Watts (Portland’s own, from the group Lightheaded) had a track on there, which happens to also be my favorite on the joint! Called “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” –in his classic crate digging style, he takes some joint i hadn’t heard before and freaks it — simply but funkalicious.

“hOMe for the Holidays” provides a grip of absolutely new material (the
“Peace On Earth” and “Still Still Still” by Kaskade, are absolute Om loveliness), and does some treatments to classics (King Kooba’s
“O Christmas Tree” does hella well working a Charlie Brown-esque remix of the original). This album is perfect for entertaining friends, and just chilling out, really, anytime of the year.

The album “Holiday Lounge” is different from the Om Records joint, in that it takes old school christmas songs and updates them, to mixed results. There are some absolute fun (try “Baby it’s Cold Outside”–a remix of the Louis Armstrong joint), and bangers on the album…sometimes the tracks amount to nothing more than a mere loop with the old song mixed in. They did a great job mastering the album, however, to give it a consistent feel, given the amount of artists who did remixes for the album, including Dan the Automator and Future Loop Foundation, among others.

“Christmas Eclectic” is another album i picked up during my iTunes excursion. It’s got some mixes by Ming & FS and Juan Atkins among others. It’s just about in the middle of HFTH and HL, sound wise–with a few hip hop remixes, and a “neo-lounge” style. A good way to round out your party.

It has been over a year since i’ve taken pictures the way i did yesterday–probably two–time flies. We recently acquired a Nikon D70 camera (for joy, really), and i knew some spots i could go to get roof access, dust off our tripod and zoom lens, and take some pictures of a few things. my ex-corporate apartment, the Oakwood, in the Queene Anne area, and off of the balcony of my office at work, at the edge of Downtown Seattle. It was completely overcast when we set out on our journey early afternoon, but in typical Seattle fashion, the sun began to peek through the clouds by the time I gained access to my first rooftop. Whadda blessing.

It’s always a wonder how you take pictures with a digital camera. I either will become a worse photographer because each picture isn’t “precious”, or i will become excellent because of all of the practice.

A side benefit of the photo excursion is that i found a free plugin for iPhoto that allows one to immediately export their photos to a gallery installation.

There are decent phishing attempts, and there are really wack ones.

the text of this one is okay, “Dear ebay user” notwithstanding (tip: if they don’t know your real id or name, it’s 99% likely it’s a phish).

Dear eBay User,

We regret to inform you, that we had to block your eBay account
because we have been notified that your account may have been compromised by outside parties.

Our terms and conditions you agreed to state that your account must always be under your control
or those you designate at all times. We have noticed some activity related to your account that
indicates that other parties may have access and or control of your information in your account.

Please be aware that until we can verify your identity no further access to your account will be allowed.As a result,Your access to bid or buy on eBay has been restricted.To start using your eBay account fully,Please uptake and verify your information by clicking below

http://signin.ebay.com/aw-c gi/eBayISAPI.dll?Verify

Regards,

eBay Member Service

**Please Do Not Reply To This E-mail As You Will Not Receive A Response**

It’s just that the actual link, when hovered, gives the URL:

http://signin_ebay_account.barami.kr:7301/ebay.htm

I presume, however, that if you sent out 10 million of these, there’s a chance that even 0.01% don’t display the URL in their browser when visiting a site…you got quite a few email accounts to start off your scams…

I was a little more adventurous and visited the site, which is still up (a phresh phishing attempt!). The passport signin link does not work, and after “signing in” it became obvious that this isn’t just for gaining ebay account info, as they take you to a “confirmation” screen, asking you for all sorts of info including of course credit card info.

Man, i picked the wrong vocation.

Based on experience, i can think of two ways one can get into a line of work such as phishing. you start out wanting to “do good”, then slip into this, slowly convincing yourself your behaviour is okay…or one has a “seared conscience” to begin with…