It’s been interesting to sort of remake the website over the last few days. I like the new look: a little more neutral in color, the banner pictures look great in the new design, and it’s given me a chance to clean up some of the 411 posts that I’ve made in over four years.

I’ve seen some older comments from people who are no longer in my life (but, I believe, one or two visit this site from time to time), and it makes me really miss them. I’ve also been reminded of some of the things that have happened over the years – like in November 2005 when I stopped watching TV, the several times when I tried to commute by bus, the many movies I saw in glorious theaters around town. It’s been fun to look back on it all.

This website uses WordPress as its core presentation software. Over the last few months, and especially the last week or so, www.randyphillips.net has been accessed by unknown people and rendered inoperable time and time again, apparently due to a basic vulnerability in my WordPress installation. I believe these people have been able to gain such easy access to my website code as a result of past lax security on the part of my web hosting company, which enabled them to plant a ‘back door’, allowing access without having to have any authentication credentials.

Most recently, the site was rendered inaccessible on Sunday, March 22, was restored by my web hosting company (IX Web Hosting) on Monday, attacked again later that afternoon, again restored by the hosting company, attacked again overnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, restored again (by me this time), and then was again targeted this morning, this time with references to a server in Latvia, registered to the Church of Scientology.

This is beyond my capabilities to remedy. IX Web Hosting has been mostly responsive in restoring the site, but appear to be unwilling or unable to reliably secure the site against intruders – they seem to be able to waltz in at will and do what they want with impunity. I’m writing this out of my frustration with WordPress for allowing such exploitation, and with IX Web Hosting, which has admitted security vulnerabilities in the recent past, the result of which is their inability to figure out how to protect my site.

I have completely deleted my current WordPress installation. I’m expecting a call from IX Web Hosting, during which I will ascertain their recommendation for one more try at a secure install. If further problems occur, I will be looking for a new hosting solution and expecting a refund for the remaining time on my hosting account.

In the meantime, the site will look quite different, and some features will be disabled for a while. Please bear with me as I traverse the morass.

Headline on CNN.com:

President Obama on Monday will overturn a policy limiting federal funds for embryonic stem cell research, officials say.

I think it was the very second post on this blog, way back in 2006, when I endorsed a state initiative funding stem cell research. Welcome to the 21st century – now if only the federal government had any money to fund the research!

From Slashdot:

After three years of research, including examining 503 pieces of fluff from his own belly button, Georg Steinhauser has discovered a type of body hair that traps stray pieces of lint and draws them into the navel. Dr Steinhauser’s observations showed that “small pieces of fluff first form in the hair and then end up in the navel at the end of the day.” Chemical analysis revealed the pieces of fluff were not just made up of cotton from clothing. Wrapped up in the lint were also flecks of dead skin, fat, sweat and dust. Unfortunately, further study has failed to yield a hair or fiber that would give Dr. Steinhauser the last three years of his life back.

Well, not exactly video, but an amazing computer-generated visualization synced to the conversation between Sully and departure control.

Check it out!

We here in SoCal have been blessed with very springlike days here in the waning weeks of winter. The temperature has reached into the low 80s the last few days, and even now at 5 PM on Sunday the temperature is a delightful 75, with wispy white horsetail clouds scudding across the valley sky. The wind driving those clouds is dropping to the valley floor, though; it is a portent of the inclement weather set to settle over the area for the next week; predictions of 20-30% chance of rain, and just generally overcast all the way through next weekend.

I’ve been working hard on the reunion referenced in the blog post from several days ago. I’ve digitized an entire concert by the Maranatha Singers from 1973 – those recordings have been posted at the reunion website youthofthe70s.blogspot.com. I also composed an update email that went out to the nearly 60 email addresses we have, and only two have bounced back as invalid so far, which I think is pretty good.

I didn’t sleep so well last night, so I look forward to racking out early tonight. Here’s to a productive week ahead, despite the gloomy weather to come.