Destopdating invitation is malware!

Today, I've received 2 email invitations from 2 different persons asking me to join Desktopdating. It could be a new site like facebook, but the name "Desktopdating" doesn't seem legit. So, I did a search in the internet...

If you have received an email with subject " has sent you a Desktopdating invitation", don't open it and please delete it immediately!

Based on people's comments, it seems this malware only targets windows/outlook/IE. It will search your address book and send similar invitations to all of your contacts.

I didn't open my emails in outlook, so I hope my computer is not infected.

Wine Reviews

Some review on wines that I've drank before...
PELEE ISLAND MERLOT 2008

• 750 mL bottle
• Red Wine
• Made in: Ontario, Canada
• 12.2% Alcohol/Vol.
• Sugar Content : 1 (Dry)
  
• Body: light-bodied
• Price: $ 9.95
• Its dark ruby appearance, distinctive black current and cherry flavours are complemented by a smooth lingering finish.
• Serving suggestions: barbecues and most pasta dishes
  

This wine is ok. Nothing exciting.
I prefer medium to full bodied wine.


PELEE ISLAND MONARCH 2008

• 750 mL bottle
• Red Wine
• 12.5% Alcohol/Vol.
• Sugar Content : 1 (Dry)
• Body: medium bodied
• Made in: Ontario, Canada
• Price: $ 9.95
• Pelee Island Monarch Red is a fun and lively red wine with ripe and jammy fruits flavours. A welcoming aroma of cherry and violets give away to a balanced finish with robust tannins.
  
• Serving suggestions: grilled red meats and full flavoured cheeses.
  

Monarch consists of 3 wines: Zweigelt 33%, Baco Noir 34%, Marchel Foch 33%

This wine is good. It's definitely better than the Merlot.
Based on the price, it's not something that I would be very excited about.
Don't get me wrong... It's a good wine...
but I can find similar quality wine at a cheaper price...



CESARI MERLOT 2008

• 750 mL bottle
• Red Wine
• 12.0% Alcohol/Vol.
• Sugar Content : 1 (Dry)
• Body: light to medium bodied
• Made in: Venezie, Italy
• Price: $ 7.45
• This red wine comes from grapes selected in and around the Veneto Region. It has a good bouquet and a full bodied flavour making this wine a great accompaniment to many dishes, specially meat and pasta.

This is a good merlot for the price.
I used to like Merlot a lot, but I recently found Merlot to have no character.
May be my taste has changed over time... So, this wine is not really an exciting wine for me, but the price is good.

pumpkin beer

In addition to the Pumpkin Ale by Great Lakes Brewery, I've also tried another pumpkin beer: St-Ambroise Citrouille - The Great Pumpkin Ale.


I found this beer to have more pumpkin taste.
I would recommend this to people who are interested in drinking some fun beers. ;)
It's only $2 a bottle.

Casal Thaulero Sangiovese

I am interested in wines that are under $10 and Casal Thaulero Sangiovese is one of them. For $6.95, this is a very good wine. Of course, you cannot compare this to some of the $15+ wines, but this wine stands out. It is actually better than some of the $10-$15 Ontario VGA wines.

CASAL THAULERO SANGIOVESE 2008

• 750 mL bottle
• Red Wine
• 13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
• Made in: Abruzzo, Italy
• Sugar Content : 1 (Dry)
• Body: Medium bodied
• This delicious wine is produced and estate bottled in Abruzzo - one of the most beautiful region in Italy. The Sangiovese grapes grown on this estate are of highest quality, creating a dry wine with fresh aromas and well-balanced flavours. Casal Thaulero Sangiovese is excellent alone or with many dishes, especially roasts, cheese and pasta. Serve at room temperature.
  
• Taste: Medium to deep ruby colour with cherry flavours

Updates on 2010-01-21:
Toronto Life has put this wine as best red under $15.
http://www.torontolife.com/features/bottle-service/

Keep Waking Up at Night

Recently, I have been waking up 3+ times at night. I don't have a problem going back to sleep but I am still very very tired when I wake up in the morning. I am not getting quality sleep.

I think it all started when builder put 2 big fans inside my condo to dry the walls. I don't really know the cause, because sound usually doesn't bother my sleep. I can fall asleep when TV or radio is still on. For the last 2 nights, I've turned off the fans at night time. Unfortunately, I am still waking up multiple times. I've slept for 12 hours on Saturday night, but it just feels like I've slept for 7-8 hours.

What is happening to me??????

Symantec Report on Rogue Security Software

According to a new Symantec report on security software, tens of millions of computers are loaded with scam security software that their owners may have paid for but which only makes the machines more vulnerable.

A rogue security software program is a type of misleading application (also known as scareware) that pretends to be legitimate security software, such as an antivirus scanner or registry cleaner, but which actually provides the user with little or no protection whatsoever and, in some cases, can actually facilitate the installation of malicious code that it purports to protect against. There are two prevalent ways in which rogue security software can be installed on a user’s computer: either it is downloaded and installed manually by a user after he or she has been tricked into believing that the software is legitimate; or it is unknowingly installed onto a user’s computer, such as when a user visits a malicious website designed to automatically download and install illegitimate applications.

To date, Symantec has detected over 250 distinct rogue security software programs.


Top reported rogue security software:

Rank - Software
1 - Spyware Guard 2008
2 - AntiVirus 2008
3 - AntiVirus 2009
4 - Spyware Secure
5 - XPAntivirus
6 - WinFixer
7 - SafeStrip
8 - Error Repair
9 - Internet Antivirus
10 - DriveCleaner

Click here to see the full Symantec Report on Rogue Security Software July 2008 - June 2009

(The Symantec Report on Rogue Security Software is an in-depth analysis of rogue security software programs. This includes an overview of how these programs work and how they affect users, including their risk implications, various distribution methods, and innovative attack vectors. )

source:
canada.com
realwire

Unique Beers

Recently, I've tried 2 unique beers from the Great Lakes Brewery: Orange Peel Ale and Pumpkin Ale.
According to the sales, you can only find this two beers once a year during Halloween time.


The orange peel ale is nice. It has an slight orange flavour and is very refreshing.


The sales person highly recommends the pumpkin ale, but it wasn't as good as I expected. The pumpkin flavour is minimal. I think it's because pumpkins don't really have a strong taste, but I would expect this beer to have a lot of pumpkin flavour.

It's nice to try them for fun, but it's not something that I would buy on regular basis. They are ok for once-a-year type of beers.

規則

大公司的規則... 複雜的流程... 過時... 不恰當... 耗時... 浪費錢...
想要更改... 但無能為力...
非常痛苦...
每個人都看到... 都抱怨... 為什麼高層看不到?

Top 5 Most Annoying Conversational Word or Phrase

In a recent Marist Poll, nearly half of Americans – 47% – said they find “whatever” most annoying.

Top 5 most annoying conversational words or phases:
#1 - Whatever (47%)
#2 - You know (25%)
#3 - It is what it is (11%)
#4 - Anyway (7%)
#5 - At the end of the day (2%)

I agree with #1... "Whatever" is annoying...
For the other ones, I don't think so...
I say "you know" a lot too...
hahahahaha... :D

Google Street View for Toronto

Google's street view for Toronto went live yesterday:
http://maps.google.ca/

To see the images, just pull the human figure at the top of the Google Maps zoom bar onto the map and jiggle it up and down the street for the best view.

Google has blurred faces and licence plates on all the images... well... at least most of them...

I've found one where license plate is very clear:


Some photographs that bloggers and Twitter users flagged as humorous earlier today, including one showing a man helping a young child prepare to urinate under a tree, had been removed from Street View in the afternoon.

Here are some other funny images...

People don't welcome Google:


Some Google photo stitches are incorrect... This car has 6 wheels... :P


A fire burns inside a van on Robinglade Dr. :


There are many sites showing funny photos from Google Street View:
BlogTo
Google Street View Gallery
StreetViewFun

Battling with Water

I had been battling with water all night last night to protect my condo... I only had 2-3 hours of sleep... but it didn't matter... I had to save my condo...

Last night around 12:30am, the fire alarm in my condo started ringing. I didn't pay attention at first, but since it kept ringing, I went out the balcony to see whether anyone went outside. I didn't see anyone. Since it was raining outside, I was hoping that this was just a false alarm. To be safe, I planned to check on my neighbors to see their reactions. Then, as soon as I opened the door, I was stunned by what I saw in the hallway. The hallway was filled with smoke... not from fire... but steam from hot water... There was a layer of water on top of soaking wet carpet... The whole hallway was flooded by hot water!!!

The water was leaking into my condo from the bottom of all common walls... I had got water coming inside from the bathroom wall, the door, and closet wall. I immediately searched for something to stop the water... I put some older home clothes (clothes that I wear at home only) at the edge of the wall to block waters as my first line of defense... Then, I searched for some towels (bath tub towels, kitchen towels, etc.) to soak water as my second line of defense...

In the mist of searching and placing the defenses, I was using one hand to keep dialing the security phone #. Every time I got the security voice mail, I wanted to swear. After many tries, the security guard finally answered the phone. I told him about the flooding and he said he'll notify the firemen immediately.

Well... Water kept coming in... And of course... I am the third line of defense!!
I kept running back and forth drying the towels in bath tub and put them back on the floor to soak more water... I needed to stop the water from entering the laminated floor areas... I didn't want my stuff to be damaged...

Eventually the firemen came... I heard a lot of banging... The owner of the water leaking condo wasn't home... The firemen had to use an axe to break open the door...

I took a peak outside from time to time... At around 1:30am, one fireman told me that there was a broken water pipe in the heater of another condo... They had stopped the water leak but the water had went down 5 floors... All hallways are soaked...

At around 3:30am, the firemen had pushed a lot of the water out the hallway down the stairs. Water is still leaking into my condo but at a much slower rate. I dried all towels/clothes one more time and put some paper towels around them to replace me as third line of defense before going to sleep.

At around 5:30am, I was awakened by some loud noises. I guessed the builder had sent some people to clean up the mess. I got out of bed to dry all towels/clothes again. I had also put some new paper towels before going back to sleep.

At around 7am, some people from the builder knocked on my door asking about the damages. They said they would use machines to clean my condo but never came. I guessed they went to the other condos with more serious damages. Since I had been soaking water all night, my condo's damages were minimal compared to some other condos.

Elevators had stopped working due to the flood... I had to walk down many many floors to go to work... I was afraid that I have to walk up many many floors to go home. Luckily, when I came home from dinner, one of the elevators is working.