Shortly after New Years, I went into NYC to hang out with my friend Tracie. These are some pictures from my trip (I know they’re not the greatest…but just use your imagination ).

That last picture was from a firehouse right across the street from the World Trade Center (we didn’t take any pictures of the WTC site because we didn’t think that’d be appropriate…and besides, there are a ton elsewhere on the Internet). After getting dinner at the Hudson Cafateria (which is a really cool restaurant) and wandering around Rockefeller Center for a little while, we took a subway down to the World Trade Center site. The last time I had been there was right before the two towers were hit by airliners and destroyed. It’s one thing to see the destruction and devestation on TV, but its another thing to actually go down there and see it firsthand. It was late, and so there were very few people there, but it was really insane (and moving) to see the site firsthand. The last time I was there, I remember walking across the large promenade and looking up and seeing these two incredibly tall buildings towering over everything. A symbol of American prosperity and might. And now, there’s just a big hole in the ground. It’s still hard to comprehend what happened on 9/11, and I still think a lot of people look on it from a more distant view, as if it didn’t really happen. I just can’t wait for them to build the memorial and the new skyscraper on that site, because while a hole in the ground might be a testament to what happened, as Americans, we need to once again show that this terrorist attack is not going to stop us.

For all those interested, I have set up PGP (public key: text / ASC) so that I can encrypt and digitally sign (so that you can authenticate that it was actually me who created the file or message and that it hasn’t been changed since I created and signed it) outgoing messages and files and everyone else can encrypt and digitally sign messages and files sent to me. PGP works (very simply explanation) by providing individuals with two sets of keys, a public key and a private key. The public key is distributed to everyone else, while the private key is kept by the individual. When someone wants to send you an encrypted file or message, they encrypt the file or message with your public key, and you decrpyt it with your private key. When you want to send someone else a message or file, you encrpyt it with their public key and they decrypt it with their private key. When you want to sign a message or file, you do so using your private key, and the individual your sending it to can verify your signature with your public key. When someone else signs a message or file and sends it to you, you can verify their signature with their public key. You can both sign and encrypt a file at the same time as well for security and authentication. PGP is relatively straight-forward and simple, but has a lot of functionality and levels to it. For further information, see the following:

MIT Distribution Site for PGP

How PGP Works

Univ. of Rochester: Making Your E-Mail Secure

Univ. of Pennsylvania: Secure Electronic Messaging – PGP

PGP Corporation – Freeware Download

Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Installing PGP 8.0 Freeware

Tom McCune’s page for Pretty Good Privacy

Tom McCune’s PGP Questions & Answers

DarkFAQs – PGP Basics

Macworld: PGP Basics

Some PGP Basics

Installing PGP7 on Windows XP SP1

My Public PGP Key is available in Text Format or ASC File Format

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to do with my life…and I’ve had a couple of thoughts (ranked in no particular order):

1) Sit around on my ass all day long – probably not the most productive idea ever!

2) Work on a cruise ship next year…how cool would this be….I could be an officer or something, I’m pretty sure I’d get a regular stateroom I only have to share with one other person (2 beds), lots of free time, a year-long vacation practically, and get a nice sun-tan…not to mention I’d have very few expenses and would be earning money on top of that!

3) Some type of computer job…this is what I’ve done in the past, but I just don’t see myself doing the same job over and over again, every day of the week, every month of the year, for 40 or so years…

4) Which leads me to the choice I’ve been considering lately…law enforcement. I mean, my philosophy is that in a regular 9-5 job or a corporate job, its relatively stable, but there is 0% chance of excitement, in a job like this though, there’s a 5% chance of excitement, which isn’t much better than a 0% chance, except that there is actually a CHANCE! I probably wouldn’t want to be a regular cop, although a detective would be cool…but maybe working in federal law enforcement somewhere. I’m also probably not FBI material (at least not yet), but you’d be surprised how many other federal law enforcement agencies there are out there. I’d definitely have to get in better shape, but I mean, how cool would it be to be a detective, or a federal law enforcement officer!?!?

Anyway, what does everyone else think about my future career…or your own future career possibilities…or if you’re in one of these careers, let me know how it is !

Who here has seen “Meet the Parents” ?? Isn’t that movie really damn funny?!?! I have to say…I’ve always been a fan of Ben Stiller, but DeNiro can be pretty damn funny when he wants too…not to mention awesome in the movies he’s serious in. He is definitely one of the most versatile actors out there, and definitely becoming a favorite of mine. That man can ACT!

“I will take you down baby. I will take you down to Chinatown!”

So…I’m hanging out in the dorm room of two of my friends right now (you two know who you are), and what are they listening to…N’sync….I mean, c’mon…whats up with that?

Sorry to all those fans out there, but there is no way three guys should be in the same room listening to N’sync…so if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna get the hell outta here

Ok…so it seems like my idiot friends have decided to have some fun with me and have been making up random people’s names and posting comments from them. Anyway, I know some of you have posted comments who I don’t know, but are real people….so if that’s the case, feel free to continue and IM me (worldman4) or email me (mb007i@mail.rochester.edu). But if you are my idiot friends….I’m gonna *&$%@# kill you !

Don’t worry, I’m not really violet…I’m just going to think up some insidious method of revenge involving rotten tomatoes, glue, and a chicken

P.S. To all those members of the ASPCA…I’m kidding about the chicken…I think I’ll use someone’s Acura instead…you know who you are

So, I went and saw the movie “Miracle” last night…what a valentine’s day I had, right ?? I actually didn’t want to see it originally…didn’t think it would be my type of movie…but it turned out to be really good. It was definitely slow a couple of times, but the overall story was good and watching the hockey scenes was cool too. Has anyone else seen it? What did everyone else think of this movie? I can’t wait for Eurotrip and Club Dread to come out…two must-see movies

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Valentine’s Day!! Notice the really cool floating animations that are now on this page (which I will take off in a day or so).

Ok…first, who actually uses the word Yikes!? I think by that word alone I’ve already fueled making fun of me well into the next century Anyway, yes, that’s right, as you can see, today is Friday the 13th. And you know, I used to work on the 13th floor at Nixon Peabody…luckily I never had any spooky or horrific experiences on the 13th…well, at least not yet

Anyone out there have any funny, spooky, or horror-filled stories about Friday the 13th? Lets hear ‘em!

And to everyone, Happy Friday the 13th and Happy Valetine’s Day tomorrow !

I admit, I use smiley’s way too much when talking online. But my whole feeling is that you lose so much when you communicate online (body language, facial expressions, etc.) that I’d try to use the smiley’s to gain some of that back. I think most people just think its annoying at this point, and I don’t even consciously mean to use them anymore, they just sneak in there when I’m typing. What do you all think about smiley’s??

And if you think that’s something, take a look at all these smilies!

Obviously I don’t even know what the correct spelling of the word smiley’s/smilies is !!