Monthly Archives: June 2013

Facist Quebec

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I’m disgusted with the PQ (Parti Québécois) minority government of Quebec, Canada. For all intensive purposes the PQ are behaving as facists, with Pauline Marois looking like a Hitler wannabe, and the OQLF are the gestapo imposing their «lingua fascista» agenda and drooling at the possibility of Bill 14 passing into law.

The PQ appear to be intentionally trying alienate English speakers and their potential supporters in order to avoid another situation with money and the ethnic vote interfering with the PQ’s separatist agenda.

Consider:

The minority PQ government prefers to push their separatist agenda instead of stimulating economic growth, jobs, or fixing corruption in provincial and local government.

The PQ harp on the idea of preserving french language in Quebec, where what passes for french only vaguely resembles what is spoken in France today (I should know after 16 years in Cannes). The PQ fail to understand that evolution will eventually relegate french to history to keep Latin company.

It is really bizarre why the PQ harp on the influence of English in Quebec so much. Outside of Montreal and the US and Ontario border regions, English influence dwindles the further from Montreal and deeper into Quebec you go, yet the PQ struggle to curb it, if not stamp it out. They fail to learn from examples like Switzerland, which has four official languages and manages normally. Or the Dutch, Germanic, and Scandinavian nations who all appear to learn English to near perfection, yet still remain distinctly Dutch, Germanic, and Scandinavian without fear of becoming British colonies.

Maybe the simplest solution would be for Montreal to separate from Quebec and join Ontario.

Foiling WordPress Login Attacks

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The other day I read an article concerning attacks on WordPress wp-login.php. The solution was fairly simple, rename wp-login.php and all references to the the file within the WordPress software to an uncommon name. However this is cumbersome to do and maintain, and in addition you have to do this for some themes and plugins that make reference to wp-login.php.

I came up with an alternative and simpler solution. While not perfect (particularly if you have several blog authors), a simple work around to the problem is use a double-login by forcing HTTP authentication in the web browser for access to wp-login.php.

If you are using Apache, then within your blog’s <VirtualHost> block add:

<Files wp-login.php>
  AuthName "Blog Login Page"
  AuthUserFile "/path/to/blog/root/.htpasswd"
  AuthType Basic
  Require valid-user
</Files>

Then create a .htpasswd file, preferable with a different user name and password from the blog login. Voilà! Done!

Update:

Have you lost your password?

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So today I wake, sit for breakfast, and turn on my Nexus 7 to get my morning dose of Slashdot, CNET News, and Twitter. I go through the typically routine and also check for application updates — oh goody new Firefox Beta and Google Keyboard. Tap update all.

Ding! Up pops a screen; Google Keyboard app. asking for new permissions: Network Communication and Read Your Contact Info. Really?! In a keyboard application? (Yes people app. is an abbreviation for application and not a trademark as Apple would like to think.) You got to be kidding me! In light of this week’s public exposure of the NSA’s surveillance of the American Public’s phone metadata, Google really wants you to let their keyboard application have network access! WHAT THE FUCK FOR!?

This just begs the question if Google is being secretly compelled by the NSA to install key-logger software to collect your passwords and your contact information. Or maybe Google is going to offer a new lost password search service.

NSA Related stories: