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In conjunction with a special section in Art in America's April issue (select articles available here, here and here) , A.i.A. presents a series of Web interviews exploring the role of corporations in contemporary art, architecture and design.
Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre, of North Vancouver, British Columbia is, without a doubt, a real business. During the high season more than 60 employees facilitate aquatic recreation in the spectacular Indian Arm fjord. Deep Cove's founder, Ingrid Baxter, has long been a skilled businesswoman, even when she was a Conceptual artist.
Between 1966 and 1978, Baxter and her then-husband Iain, working under the trade name N.E. Thing Co., produced some of the most influential art to come out of the Vancouver scene. Legally incorporated in 1969, N.E. Thing Co. had all the trappings of a commercial enterprise: official titles for its chief officers, bland stationery, a byzantine organizational structure with departments and sub-departments, and official seals for authenticating paperwork. But rather than merely aping the aesthetics of administration, N.E. Thing Co. was more like a shell company, an elaborate front that its founders used to raise broad questions about the nature of art, temporality, representation and language.
Reflecting on the company more than 40 years after its founding, Baxter downplays her motivation to parody commerce and branding. N.E. Thing Co. was instead a vehicle for the Baxters to negotiate ingrained art world assumptions, particularly about authorship and gender. The nebulous, opaque corporate structure became a site for surprising aesthetic possibilities. As one "Company statement" from 1968 read, "It is the visual Unknown that challenges the N.E. Thing researchers."
Operating from its headquarters in North Vancouver, N.E. Thing Co. participated in landmark exhibitions of Conceptual art including "Information" (1970) at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Invited to produce the cover of A.i.A.'s May-June 1969 issue, the company produced an assortment of 35mm slides depicting art installations, banal urban scenes and wild Canadian landscapes.
Today, the N.E. Thing Co.'s archives—and to a great extent its legacy—are controlled by Baxter's ex-husband, who goes by the moniker Iain Baxter&. By the early 1980s Ingrid had largely left the art world to pursue a second career in the business that grew into Deep Cove. A.i.A. spoke with her by phone from her home on Gabriola Island, B.C.
WILLIAM S. SMITH When did you decide to incorporate?
INGRID BAXTER It goes back to when we first moved to Vancouver in the early 1960s. We came upon various artists who were working in their various modes. We started thinking that names on things could get to be limiting. So if you were Toni Onley—to take one artist who was a prominent part of the scene—you'd have to do Toni Onley-type things, turning out duplicates in a way. But we had ideas of doing a variety of types of projects. One of the best ways to pursue all of our different ideas was to create a company that would have different departments. There was a research department, a projects department, a photo department, a things department and so on. We had divisions for ANTs [Aesthetically Neutral Things], ARTs [Aesthetically Rejected Things] and ACTs [Aesthetically Claimed Things]. They were all fabricated for whatever purpose we wanted at the time. Then we could make or propose many kinds of projects. So it was from an aesthetic point of view that we created N.E. Thing Company, not a corporate point of view.
SMITH So, the company allowed you to get away from the idea of individual, personal authorship?
BAXTER Yes, totally. We lived on Riverside Drive in North Vancouver when we were doing most of the N.E Thing Co. work. People would stay there—critics and other artists—and sometimes their ideas would be incorporated too. But the core was Iain and I, doing things jointly.
SMITH To what extent was it a real business? I ask because speaking about an artist corporation today implies mega-artists showing with mega-galleries and making lots of money.
BAXTER Real businesses have a bottom line, right? There you go. We were legally incorporated at one point but during that period we never had a very profitable bottom line. That was not our purpose. Shame on us, maybe, for failing to see the potential of our corporate world. I always said that we should have sold N.E. Thing Corporation to Andy Warhol for a million dollars; he should really have had the name. Maybe we can still do a retroactive re-sale to Andy Warhol—that would be a great project.
SMITH Going back in time would be consistent with some of your earlier works, which often dealt with time zones, clocks and temporal experience.
BAXTER Iain and I travelled with our two kids back and forth across Canada for various jobs and exhibitions. At one point we planned to film the entire coast to coast trip [for 5,000 Mile Movie, 1967] but that proved too expensive. Canada has five time zones, plus Newfoundland is a half-hour ahead. We met artists from all the way across and we pulled together some pieces that were about this experience of travel and time changes. I also remember we did a piece where we ate half a meal then put it in the freezer so we could eat the other half a year later.
SMITH Your work could also be seen as a parody of commerce and bureaucracy. Did you perceive the corporate identity as critical of the art world and the art market? Of corporate culture in general?
BAXTER The irony or the critical aspect is for you and other critics to interpret. People say artists are ahead of their times—well, we're not, we're expressive of the times. We were not anti-corporations or anti-galleries and so forth. We weren't against institutional art structures. In fact, we were appreciative when curators would invite us to show—that was a good thing for us.
SMITH You also operated in a space kind of between art and business at a few points. How did you come to start a restaurant, for example?
BAXTER We had a Canada Council grant in 1972 to travel in Europe and we had no job to come back to in Canada. We thought about applying for the job of humans at the Vancouver Zoo because then we'd have a roof over our heads and we'd be fed and taken care of. We decided to do the Eye Scream restaurant as a survival technique, because we didn't have income. But it was also an art project—we showed art there and the menu had all sorts of references to art. It did generate revenue, until it took us under. It looked like we made $20,000 a month, but it cost something like $25,000 to do it. That trauma, in part, led to our split, and Iain and I got divorced soon after.
SMITH Where are the archives today?
BAXTER Iain has a lot of the work and the company archives are with the Art Gallery of Ontario. I moved on from what we were doing at that time and he continued on with his art, some of which involved going back and repeating N.E. Thing Co. ideas. The idea of branding was not in our mind at the time. What Iain has done—and is doing—is rebranding.
SMITH If you identify as a company the question of gender is obscured a bit since the corporate entity is not necessarily gendered. Was N.E. Thing Co. in part a way of dealing with sexism in the art world?
BAXTER I would say that was part of our motivation—not mine, not his, but ours. When Iain and I worked together, the ideas happened between our two brains. To Iain's credit, he made sure that writers and curators understood my contribution, at least back then.
SMITH What made you want to move away from the art world?
BAXTER Well, I went back to school for my master's degree. I bought the canoe and boat rental business in 1981, and it has since grown way beyond whatever I imagined it could be.
SMITH And it beats Conceptual art as a livelihood?
BAXTER Yeah, definitely it has. Though times have changed and I guess you could do pretty well as a Conceptual artist these days. I was always most interested in the educational side of art, questioning what it is and what it means to people. That spirit hasn't been left behind; it's part of everything I've done.


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It Begins: Nevada GOP Winner and Tea Party Favorite a 'Far-Right Conservative'
Western-based reporter Jennifer Steinhauer, a fan of tax hikes in California, took aim at Sharron Angle, Tea Party favorite and the winner of Nevada's Republican primary to challenge House Majority leader Harry Reid in November in "Results of Nevada Primary Set Up Senate Race of Sharp Contrasts." It comes as no surprise to learn that those contrasts, as filtered by Steinhauer (picture below by Bill Pierce) favor Reid.
Even among the nation's most febrile political contests, few choices are as stark as the one Nevada voters will make between a circumspect four-term senator, one of the most visible emblems of Democratic power in Washington, and a largely unknown former state lawmaker with 10 grandchildren, whose fondness for weightlifting and for her .44 Magnum won the ardor of the Republican Party base.
Faced with the newly minted Republican Party candidate, Sharron Angle, the senator, Harry Reid, who is the majority leader, will now have to contend with a highly unpredictable electorate. It's one that handed Barack Obama an overwhelming victory in 2008, but now burdened with a protracted recession and ever-relishing its role as national political barometer, has begun this season to demonstrate its ire against incumbents.
Notice a pattern in Steinhauer's political labeling?
Further, Ms. Angle - the Tea Party-blessed candidate who bested her two better-financed competitors in Tuesday's primary - is an untested statewide candidate whose positions as a lawmaker put her firmly to the right of most mainstream Nevada voters. The hot lights of national exposure can be a liability for new - and overly loquacious - candidates, as Rand Paul, the Republican Senate nominee from Kentucky, quickly found.
History would suggest that a victory in November for Ms. Angle is far from impossible. She will be aided by Mr. Reid's role as the highly visible symbol for what critics in Nevada, one of the most economically hard-hit states, see as the Obama administration's fiscal overreach. In 1982, a four-term incumbent, Senator Howard Cannon, whose power, while less than Mr. Reid's, was not insignificant in Washington, lost his Senate seat during a recession to Chic Hecht, a Republican who leaned hard to the right.
Among her detractors and her supporters she is known as a far-right conservative and a thorn in the side of both parties, routinely voting no on almost everything that came before the Legislature. She is also a tireless campaigner. When a 2002 redistricting forced her to face off with a wildly popular Republican incumbent, Greg Brower, she went door to door nightly, won and ended his political career.
The Times rarely if ever identifies Democratic candidates as far-left.
When Steinhauer wasn't tarring Angle herself with labels, she found a Republican to do it for her:
"I would say there are a lot of Republicans who will find it difficult to support Sharron Angle," said State Senator William J Raggio, a Republican who has served in the Legislature since 1972. "Abolishing the Department of Education, phasing out Social Security, those are pretty extreme positions. I think any incumbent is vulnerable, but you have to have somebody that is also acceptable if you're going to win."
You can follow Times Watch on Twitter.

subset: commoncrawl


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I saw a recipe for a whole head of cauliflower marinated and then roasted in Tandoori spices on Pinterest. Okay I am a bit obsessed with Pinterest but I get a lot of inspiration there and keep it all in one place without having to print things out and leave bits of paper piling up on every surface. The Washer Up is happier anyway. He hates mess and this way I leave less stuff on his art installation which is actually our kitchen table.
I'm not allowed to cook the pumpkin by the way. It's a study in time and space apparently. Which means he is waiting to see how long it takes for me to mess up the space with my stuff. I love the new light though. Industrial, elegant and huge. It's beautiful, not everyone's cup of tea I'm sure. Pinterest made me do it.
So back to the cauliflower, I didn't have a whole one so I mixed the tandoori spices with some goat's yoghurt to make the marinade that I tipped over some florets that I had and added some chickpeas for protein and texture. I roasted these and left them to cool and dry out a bit because I wanted to use them as a samosa filling. The samosas were fabulous but we only had enough filo pastry for four, which we ate for dinner, so no photos I'm afraid. The technique is the same as for my recipe for Sweet Potato Samosas if you want to go down that route.
Because I could only make four samosas I had lots of filling left so I decided to throw them into a quiche for lunch the next day. Tandoori Cauliflower Quiche, that is Franglo Indian in case you were wondering where to file it.
The pastry is my olive oil spelt flour favourite that is quick, simple and delicious with anything.
Just writing out the recipe title below I had a brain wave that I had seen this recipe before somewhere. A little research brought me to Food To Glow who made practically the same thing a few months ago. It just goes to show that nothing is original even Franglo-Indian leftovers quiche. We do have very similar taste in food so I suppose it is inevitable, subliminal serendipity or something!! Thanks Kellie ;D
Tandoori Roasted Cauliflower & Chickpea Quiche Recipe
Makes 1 large quiche, Vegetarian
Tandoori Spice Mix Adapted from My New Roots
You only need 1 Tbsp for this recipe
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 Tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
- 1/4 whole nutmeg grated
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1 1/2 sticks cinnamon, broken
- 1 Tbsp turmeric
- 1 Tbsp paprika
Grind everything except last 2 ingredients in a mortar & pestle or spice grinder to a powder then mix with the turmeric & paprika. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place.
- 350-400 g cauliflower florets
- 200 g cooked chickpeas, rinsed & drained
- 1 Tbsp tandoori spice mix (recipe above)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 pot (125 ml) goats or Greek yoghurt
- 50 gr toasted almonds or cashews
- a handful of fresh coriander
Tip all the ingredients except the nuts into a plastic freezer bag, seal and mix together well by smushing it about in the bag with your hands. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour minimum.
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Tip the contents of the freezer bag onto the tray and spread out evenly. Roast for 25-30 minutes until dried and slightly browned then leave to cool. Stir through the toasted almonds/cashews and chopped coriander. Taste and add more salt & lemon juice as required.
You can use the cooled mixture as a filling for samosas, see recipe here or continue on to make the quiche.
Makes a 28-30 cm quiche. Vegetarian. Pastry recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini
- 250 g spelt or wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp tandoori spice mix (see above)
- 4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) olive oil
- up to 120 ml (1/2 cup) cold water
- 3 eggs
- 1 pot (125 gr) goat's yoghurt (or greek yoghurt)
- milk ( I used oat milk)
- salt & black pepper
- a handful of grated manchego/cheddar (optional)
Lightly oil & flour your tart tin. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt and spices, drizzle in the olive oil mixing/mashing it in with a fork until well combined (a bit like crumble mix). Measure out the water then drizzle slowly into the flour a bit at a time and mix it in with the fork until just absorbed then bring it together with one hand kneading a little just until it forms a cohesive ball. you may not need all the water. Do not over work or it will be tough. You can refrigerate it now if it is warm.
Preheat the oven to 190C. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface, turning it quarter turns as you go to stop it sticking, to the correct size about 2-3 mm thick. Flour your rolling-pin and roll the pastry onto it lifting it gently over to the tart tin and unroll the pastry onto the tin. Push the pastry into the tin (do not stretch it) and trim off the excess. Keep it to make a little tart if you have enough.
Prick the base of the tart all over with a fork. Separate one of the eggs and use the white to brush all over the base of the pastry and the sides. Bake for about 8 -10 minutes until the egg white is cooked and the pastry is starting to dry out. This creates a barrier and stops the bottom from becoming soggy when you add the liquidy filling.
Spread the roasted cauliflower chickpea mix over the base of the pastry in an evenish layer, you will probably not need all of it. In a measuring jug whisk together the two remaining whole eggs and the extra yolk then add the goat's yoghurt and whisk again. Add enough milk to take it to the 450 ml mark, season well with salt & black pepper and mix again.
Open the oven, put the tart on the middle oven shelf, pull it out and then pour the egg mixture into the tart, top with the grated cheese (if using), gently push the shelf in and close the door. This stops the mixture slopping everywhere hopefully.
Bake until the quiche is just set and nicely browned about 30-40 minutes. Leave to cool slightly and serve warm (not hot) or at room temperature.
Serve the quiche or samosas with a green salad and a yoghurt, lemon & mint dipping sauce.


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I'm sorry to have gone silent again so quickly: in my defence, I was finishing a chapter for a book of essays in memory of Mark Blackburn, and that's now done so we'll see whether it passes muster. Meanwhile, I still have a backlog here of course. The seminar reports seem not to have drawn many comments lately, but I intend to persist, so for those not so interested I'll try and stay brief, by my own elevated standards of course. The next three I have to report on are all Oxford ones, and they begin with a visit to the Late Antique and Byzantine Studies seminar there by Dr Peter Sarris of Cambridge on the 28th February 2012, whose title was "The Economics of Salvation in late Antiquity and Byzantium". This was a wide-ranging paper, with examples from England to Anatolia, and as ever with Dr Sarris heavily erudite, but its basic thrust was in fact fairly simple: he argued that in the late Antique period, the drain that the relatively-new Church represented on resources that might have gone to other supporters of the imperial or royal régimes, and the Church's consequent wealth as a land- and slave-owner, meant that there was in fact a detectable amount of opposition to it and that this probably retarded conversion and/or Christianisation for a long time. His starting point was the Emperor Justinian, perhaps unsurprisingly, of whom Procopius scathingly said, "Justice for him lay in the priests getting the better of their opponents", but we rapidly got down to the peasantry, for whom despite what has sometimes been argued, the Church for Dr Sarris was no better and perhaps a worse landlord than the aristocracy might have been, because of its greater potential to develop estates, move people around and of course exercise a form of social control over them via worship, as well as having the best possible state backing most of the time.1 Benefaction and support for the Church, in this view, would come principally from those who saw a means to profit or advancement in it for themselves, the sort of people who might build churches on their estates or want to safely house family property with the tax-exempt Church in such a way that the family retained a heritable interest, a compromise that was easy to manage (and, according to one study Dr Sarris referenced, could represent a 5.5% return on investment per generation!).2 In questions, he was forced to back down a bit and admit that obviously there were also sincere believers who gave to the Church for their souls and to fund God's work, and there was a lot of argument about whether the fact that that is overridingly the sort of language that the sources use of donation to the Church should be taken as evidential or as merely formulaic (or, as I would have preferred, the ineluctable result of only Church archives surviving). There was also some argument about which regions this might be more or less true in, but overall this was a provocative paper thoroughly put forward and those arguing with it needed their evidence about them.
Then on the 1st March, Ildar Garipzanov gave the second of his two Oliver Smithies lectures in Balliol College. This was entitled, "The Rise of Graphicacy and Graphic Symbols of Authority in Early Europe (c. 300-1000)", and to an extent it went over the same ground as his similar paper given in London a little while back on which I reported, but here managed also to cover the periods before and after. Graphicacy, you may need to know, is the skill of determining information from symbols, and it's most usually used of maps, but Ildar was more interested in monograms here, which since they use letters meant a certain amount of definition-chopping over what is and isn't text. His key reference point therefore was the symbol above, the Chi-Ro, composed of the first two letters of the word Christos in Greek. The basis of this is in text, but its meaning as a symbol for Jesus goes far beyond the text and was recognised far far beyond the realm where the language relevant for that text was spoken or read. It is seen as a marker on Christian objects in Britain as early as the early fourth century, before Emperor Constantine's conversion had made it famous, and in general has a lot to tell us. Ildar wanted this time however to try and bring this tradition together with a different one of ownership marks used on property in shipment, usually elaborations of a letter N, M or H rather than anything related to an actual name, which were also widely used, including on coins very occasionally, and suggest the two traditions converged into the authority-marking monograms on which Ildar is more known for working.3 He didn't quite leave himself time to make this case, as I felt, and had to withstand a full-on interrogation from Jonathan Shepard afterwards so couldn't expand on it, but I expect that we will see it fully made before long, because Ildar does write quite a bit.
Last in this batch was a paper given before the Medieval Archaeology Seminar on 5th March 2012 by Isaac Sastre de Diego entitled, "Early Hispanic Churches through their Liturgical Sculpture". This paper had been provoked by a phenomenon that irks me a lot too, the acute dearth of excavation around early medieval Spanish churches. (Catalonia is probably better for this than non-Catalan Spain, by the sound of it, though even there there's a big difference between digging in and also digging around.) The other target assumption was that before Spain caught Romanesque, everything went in sensibly chronological phases that can be plotted in architectural styles, something which has also been disputed here so in general I was well placed to like this paper. Isaac's solution to the problem, the problem being that this set-up gives a nice sensible system of dates for standing structures which is in fact entirely artificial, was to deal with the church's architecture in terms of what we know about changes in the liturgy of the times and basically to see how that affects the dating of the churches. This is a big project, and here he focused specifically on altars. There are several types of altar to be found in Spain's pre-Romanesque churches (even I can't get away from the adjective, drat it), some late Roman ones reused (again, a subject dear to me by now), some set up as slabs on a single pillar like a Tau-cross (as above, or the one at Santa María de Quinzanas which was dated to 725×825 by carbon-dating of the relics still in place within), some as table-like slabs set up on legs at the edges, some slab-sided and roofed and some built of piles of slabs. When one stops assuming that there is a stylistic sequence to these types, and looks for actual dating evidence, which is rare, it becomes clear, said Isaac, firstly that we have nothing from before the second half of the fifth century as yet detected (though I pointed out that Sant Feliu de Barcelona, the first cathedral there, is known to be earlier even if we don't have its altar any more), secondly that regional styles of decoration are detectable within the sample (and across types) and that there is certainly no such thing as a `Visigothic'-style altar as the old phased chronology has it, and thirdly (as emerged only in questions) there is nothing either that can be dated to the eighth century, though plenty after. Isaac suggested that that was best seen as a time of low investment in the Church, rather than some mass abandonment of altar-building. I found the dating arguments in this paper generally somewhat hard to follow, and it was some time before I was sure that the dates of the altars in question hadn't in fact come from the same typology Isaac was attempting to dismantle, but it was not in fact so and as he said, while there is not a lot to go on here yet it's still a step forward towards something a bit more scientific, from which indeed new and better-founded typologies could still be developed. So there we have it for now! More soon.
1. One thing about Peter Sarris's papers is that they always feature a full bibliography, so I can tell you that the paper derived from some of the work in Sarris, Matthew dal Santo and Phil Booth (edd.), An Age of Saints? Power, Conflict and Dissent in Early Medieval Christianity, Brill's Series on the Early Middle Ages 20 (Leiden 2012), which I've not yet seen myself but which looks really interesting actually.
2. For this figure the cite was Paul Gautier (ed./transl.), "La Diataxis de Michel Attaliate" in Revue d'Études Byzantines Vol. 39 (Paris 1981), pp. 5–143 at pp. 17-129 [sic].
3. I think here mainly of I. Garipzanov, "Metamorphoses of the early medieval signum of a ruler in the Carolingian world" in Early Medieval Europe Vol. 14 (Oxford 2006), pp. 419-464.


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This post is the technical full disclosure of the exploit I reported here. The original post includes a demo video and a description of the attack. Please view it first as it is not redescribed here.
I intended this post to be understandable by anyone with a modest understanding of how the web works, not just security experts. So give it a try.
Update: I wrote a follow-up white paper describing this attack in a more general way, and providing more examples from other Social Network sites. The paper is dubbed: Cross Site Identification - or - How your social network might expose you when you least expect it
I'll begin with an outline of how a Facebook application works. Then I'll explain the vulnerability (that's the security hole), and finally, I'll detail the demonstrated exploit (that's what you can actually do with the hole).
How a Facebook App works
Anyone can create an application (or app) that will run within the Facebook platform (and many do!). An app is like a regular website with the additional benefits of the social network Facebook provides (such as friends, profiles boxes, walls etc).
Technically, a Facebook app is just like a website: its mounted on a normal web sever and serves content to HTTP requests. The difference is that while a normal website receives requests directly from its users, an app has the Facebook platform as a middle man, between the user and the application.
Click image to enlarge
Figure 1. A Facebook application architecture vs. a normal web sever.
In a regular web site, the user's browsers requests the web content directly from the web server. In contrast, a Facebook application has a "front" address in the apps.facebook.com domain. The user accesses this address and Facebook itself contacts the app server for the content through its real address back.quaji.com.
What Facebook tells the application about the user
Referring to Figure 1, When the user engages the application (arrow 1), Facebook will add some of the user's personal information when contacting the app server (arrow 2), so the response (arrow 3) could be personalized. What details exactly it sends along depends on many variables, most notabely if the user has authorized the app.
However, Facebook has a module called Automatic Authentication (which sounds like trouble just by its name...). This mechanism allows the app to receive some of the user's info automatically, without the user's consent. These details include full name, profile picture, and friends list.
This, as the saying goes, is a feature not a bug. Its a blaring example of the lenient security model Facebook adopted in the name of functionality, or in their own words: "to develop fully-featured social applications with the least possible amount of friction."
this means any application you access, even before you authorize it, knows quite a lot about you.
But at least you initiated the interaction, right?
The Vulnerability
In the role of the hacker, what we want is to set up an app, have the user's browser access it without his knowledge, and get all the personal information Facebook's Automatic Authentication so graciously gives us.
Facebook for their part try to take precautions against just this type of attack. The docs state:
"This parameter (the user ID) will not always appear. If the user has set stronger privacy settings or is redirected from a non-Facebook URL, this parameter will return null."
Now, 99% of the users do not change their default settings, so the first limitation is not a
problem. But the second is something that requires "fixing". It means that only if you actually engage the application by clicking a link to it (maybe on somebody's wall) will the personal info be sent. We need a way to trick Facebook into think the app page it is clandestinitly accessing, is a result of the user's interaction.
The core of the matter
It turns out that a simple redirect from one page to another in the same application, fools Facebook because the second request originates from a Facebook URL (the first request). Therefore, the second request activates Automatic Authentication and personal info is sent.
To illustrate this imagine the following scenario:
- Browser is directed to http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step1.php
Facebook correctly notices that the URL did not originate from with the Facebook domain, and no information is sent. However, step1.php causes a redirect to step2.php.
- Browser is directed to http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step2.php
This time, the access seems to have originated from the Facebook domain! Specifically from step1.php. Therefore, personal information is sent along with the request.
We have managed to bypass the restriction set forth by AA. But what can we do with this?
The Exploit
Ah, the interesting part. :)
The simplest way to expoit this is by luring the innocent user to a page on our website (say by sending a link in the mail). In this page we can cause the user's browser to access any URL (using a hidden IFRAME for example). Specifically we'll send the user to: http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step1.php.
This will cause the browser to then go to step2.php and we get the info.
However there is a much more powerful attack possible here (thanks S.B).
We can craft the entire thing in an IMG tag. An IMG tag also causes the browser to go the specified address looking for image data. And if the the browser recieves a redirect response, it relentlesly goes through it looking for those pixels.
The huge difference between the two approches is that many blogs/forum sites allow user comments to contain IMG tags, and therfore the attack can be launched without having the user visit our website. Instead, merely viewing a "treated" forum thread will cause the attack to take place.
The icing on the cake
Hacking is an elegant art. As such, an exploit is messured by its finishing touches, as much as its payload. While having an IMG tag point to http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step1.php will work, it is suspicious, and the user ends up with a broken image. So we add:
- IMG tag point to a normal looking URL such as http://quaji.com/attack.gif. However, becuase the address resides on our server, this URL does not return an image but rather a redirect to http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step1.php.
This allows to stop the attack at anytime without leaving a trace by causing this URL to return a normal image instead of a redirect.
- The second app page, step2.php, after collecting the user's information, can further redirect the user's browser to an actual normal image. Facebook allows this, and a redirect from an application page to an external address goes unaltered. This causes the browser to finally find pixels and display an image to the user. The user will notice nothing, as the end behaviour is complete normal.
- Nothing breaks even if the user is not currently logged on to Facebook! Facebook allows access to its applications without login. Obviously, no personal data would be collected at step2.php but the browser would still end up with a valid image.
Lets see this all put together:
Click image to enlarge
Figure 2. The anatomy of the full fledged attack
- User naively surfs to a well-known and trusted forum at forum.com.
- The thread he is viewing contains a malicious comment with an IMG tag point at quaji.com
- The user's browsers attempts to retrieve the image
- but instead is redirected to http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step1.php.
- The request is forwarded through the Facebook platform,
- to the hackers app server
- and is again redirected to http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step2.php.
- and back to the browser.
- Browser attempts http://apps.facebook.com/hacker-app/step2.php
- The Facebook platform passes the request to the hacker's app server adding the user's personal information after being tricked into thinking it should do so.
- To finish off, a redirect is issused to a proper image.
This is special type of CSRF attack in which the hacker not only causes an action on behalf of the user, he is also at the recieving end, obtaining the stolen information.
The attack in its final form is very powerful and it was surprising even to me. While the specific vulnerability in this case was a glitch in the Automatic Authentication process, the rest of the attack is based on the normal behaviour of web browsers and servers.
Update: I wrote a follow-up white paper describing this attack in a more general way, and providing more examples from other Social Network sites. The paper is dubbed: Cross Site Identification - or - How your social network might expose you when you least expect it
Hey, if you reached this far, why don't you leave a comment?


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Thinking about the future is one thing, actively planning for the unknown is another.
That has been taking up a good chunk of my time lately. Planning, plotting, and gathering has been on my list of things to do for a while now.
Like a squirrel putting away nuts for the winter, or the ant in the famous story stocking up for a rainy day I have been gathering.
Gathering up things that I will need for my new characters when the Cataclysm comes later this year.
In a way that is a shame.
It's not that I am not enjoying the game that I am playing now, far from it. It's more along the lines of looking forward to the content to come.
People who like to raid are getting their fix of new content now, as Icecrown opens its doors to their not so tender advances.
People who prefer PvP are getting a new arena season. (Or so I have been told, I don't participate.)
People like me who actually enjoy the leveling process are still running the same content we have for the last four years. Soon though, that will change.
I for one am looking forward to it.
New places to explore, new quests to do, new lore to see, it will be great.
Ok, it will be great unless I am required to swim everywhere. I prefer my gaming environment to be rather two-dimensional. Thats probably why I don't care for Eye of Eternity or Oculus, but I digress.
What does any of this have to do with gathering stuff towards the Cataclysm?
Well, it turns out that looking at it I am not gathering like it's the end of the world.
I am gathering like I am going on vacation.
I want enough cash in the bank that I don't have to worry about grinding dailies or working the auction house to support the characters I will be leveling. That sounds an awful lot like vacation to me. I just want to have fun and not "work" to support it.
I want basic starter gear for both of the ones I plan to start. I am not talking about having a complete changout of gear I can swap to every ten levels sitting, already gemmed and enchanted, in the bank.
I am just talking about a few heirlooms and other odds and ends.
That leads me (as such things often do) to making a list of what I want to have set aside for my new characters. Since I am writing it down anyhow, and need to put it somewhere where it won't get lost, it's going to go here.
- Cash. 8K gold should be enough to cover money sinks all the way through cold weather flight, so I'll likely go with an even 10K to be safe.
- Bind to Account chest(s) appropriate to the class.
- Bind to Account shoulder(s) appropriate to the class.
- Bind to account weapon(s) appropriate to the class.
- Inventory bags. I figure four Frostweave Bags at 20 slots each will do fine.
- Bank bags. Seven Travelers Backpacks will do well here. 16 slots each, and non-binding so I lose nothing by updating them later.
Is that perhaps going a little overboard?
I don't think so.
Going overboard would also include things like this:
- All the cloth to level first aid to 450.
- All the meats to level cooking to 450.
- All the raw materials to level both chosen professions to 450.
- A well stocked personal guild bank full of consumables and recipes.
- A second tab in that bank with complete gear sets (minus the heirloom slots) to carry you all the way to 80. Bonus points if there are sets for multiple specs.
When the Wrath of the Litch King was still on the horizon I was planning and gathering as well. The difference is I was a raider back then. Everything revolved around getting to 80 as quick as possible so I could get back into the raid group.
Leveling those ten levels from 70 to 80 was a chore to be done, an obstacle in my path. Work I had to do before I could play the game I wanted to. Everything I stockpiled was with that in mind.
Now it's the leveling I am looking forward to, and raiding is just distant smoke on the horizon.
This time instead of having ten levels of work before I could start to have fun, I am looking forward to 85 levels of fun before I start having to work.
It's actually kind of refreshing.
Filed under: World of Warcraft | Tagged: Alts, leveling, making money, raiding |


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Editor's note: October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Author Allison Gilbert shares why she chose to undergo a double mastectomy after testing positive for the breast cancer gene.
(CNN) — I'm not a helicopter parent and my children would tell you I don't bake cupcakes for their birthday parties. But I'd readily cut off my breasts for them — and recently, I did.
Removing breast tissue uncompromised by cancer is relatively easy. It took the breast surgeon about two hours to slice through my chest and complete the double mastectomy seven weeks ago.
The time-consuming part was left to the plastic surgeon who created new breasts out of my own belly fat so I could avoid getting implants. Total operating time: 11.5 hours. And I don't regret a second.
The decision to have surgery without having cancer wasn't easy, but it seemed logical to me. My mother, aunt and grandmother have all died from breast or ovarian cancer, and I tested positive for the breast cancer gene.
Being BRCA positive means a woman's chance of developing breast and ovarian cancer is substantially elevated.
"Patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations have 50%-85% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and up to approximately 60% lifetime risk of ovarian cancer," according to Karen Brown, director of the Cancer Genetic Counseling Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
By comparison, the lifetime risk of breast cancer for the general population is 13% and 1.7% for ovarian cancer.
CNN iReport: Tested for the breast cancer gene?
At my gynecologist's urging, I tackled the threat of ovarian cancer first. Because the disease is hard to detect and so often fatal, my ovaries were removed in 2007, a few years after my husband and I decided we were done having kids.
The most difficult part of the operation came in the months that followed: I was thrust into menopause at 37. Despite age-inappropriate night sweats and hot flashes, I was relieved to have the surgery behind me and wrote about it in my book, "Parentless Parents: How the Loss of Our Mothers and Fathers Impacts the Way We Raise Our Children."
The emotional release was short-lived. Less than a year later, my mother's sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and died within four months.
Aunt Ronnie's death set me on a preventive mastectomy warpath. I had already been under high-risk surveillance for more than a decade — being examined annually by a leading breast specialist and alternating between mammograms, breast MRIs and sonograms every three months — but suddenly being on watch didn't seem enough, and I began researching surgical options.
Regardless of my family history and BRCA status, I still went back and forth on having a mastectomy. I vacillated between feeling smug and insane.
Over the years, I'd read too many stories like the one in the Wall Street Journal last week, on doctors who make fatal mistakes (up to 98,000 people die every year in the United States because of medical errors, according to the Institute of Medicine). I was anxious about choosing a bad surgeon and a bad hospital.
The stakes felt even higher after I decided to go an unconventional route to reconstruction. Implants generally offer a quicker surgery and recovery, but they're also known to leak, shift out of place, and feel hard to the touch and uncomfortable.
I would also likely have to replace them every 10 years — not an unimportant consideration, since I'm 42.
Ultimately, on August 7, I underwent double mastectomy with DIEP (Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator) flap reconstruction. The benefits would be that my new breasts would be permanent, made from my own skin and flesh, and I'd be getting rid of my childbearing belly fat in the process.
I had multiple consultations with surgeons who explained every reason not to have the procedure. They warned me that I'd be under anesthesia unnecessarily long and I'd be opening myself up to needless complications.
While every concern was valid, it wasn't until I was six doctors into my investigation that I realized the likely reason why I was getting such push-back. The plastic surgeons I was consulting, despite their shining pedigrees and swanky offices, couldn't perform a DIEP. The procedure requires highly skilled microsurgery and not every plastic surgeon, I learned, is a microsurgeon.
It also requires a great deal of stamina. The doctors I interviewed who perform DIEP flaps were generally younger and fitter than those who didn't. On average, a double mastectomy with DIEP reconstruction takes 10-12 hours, while reconstruction using implants can take as little as three.
In total, I met with 10 surgeons before choosing my team, and while I am now thrilled with the outcome, all the years of research and worry took a toll on me.
The worst moment came one night when my husband and I were in bed. I began to cry uncontrollably and wished I could talk with my mother and aunt about which procedure to have, which doctor I should choose, and whether I should even have the surgery.
Then a moment of bittersweet grace clarified what I needed to do. It struck me that the reason I couldn't speak to my mother and aunt is exactly the reason I had to have the surgery.
Undergoing a prophylactic double mastectomy was a great decision for me. It's clearly not a choice every woman would make, but I'm convinced without it I would have been one of the estimated 226,000 women the American Cancer Society says is diagnosed with invasive breast cancer every year.
I could have tried to eat my way to a cancer-free life, but even Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of the popular vegetables-are-key-to-health book "The China Study" admits diet may not be enough to protect BRCA patients from cancer.
"We need more research," Campbell told me. "Conservatively, I'd say go ahead and have the surgery, and eat a plant-based diet after."
I also could have waited for a vaccine, a pill or some other medical advance to come my way that would have made such a radical decision avoidable.
Perhaps MD Anderson Cancer Center's newly announced war on cancer will produce positive results for patients who are susceptible to triple negative breast cancer, the type of aggressive disease likely to afflict BRCA1 patients and the kind my aunt most likely died from.
But every surgery substitute seemed locked in hope, not statistics. And as I've told my husband and children, I wasn't willing to wait. I love them more than my chest.


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The RIPSA legislation was introduced to regulate the surveillance of a person or persons and to regulate information obtained from third parties when the subject of the activity is not aware of either the surveillance or information gathering.
Orkney Islands Council would be involved in such information gathering, amongst others, for the detection of a crime, a possible breach of legislation or a potential breach of tenancy agreements.
Orkney Islands Council have adopted Policy and Procedures on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Scotland Act 2000 (RIPSA) for all services involved to follow. The OIC Policy and Procedures and necessary forms for Authorisation of Covert Surveillance or Directed Surveillance and OIC Policy and Procedures for Authorisation of the Use of Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) can be accessed from the 'More pages in this section' menu.
Anyone who feels the Council has acted improperly in carrying out their responsibilities or who feels their essential human rights have been infringed can register a complaint with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. Go to their website and click on 'Complaints'.
The principal legislation introduced in the wake of the Human Rights Act 1998 is the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Scotland Act 2000. It only includes passing references to other legislation, which will need to be considered, including the Human Rights Act 1998. Separate guidance has been provided on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 or RIPA.
In Scotland, RIPSA deals with covert surveillance issues, intrusive and directed surveillance and the use and conduct of covert human intelligence sources. It took effect from 2 October 2000. However, Parts I, III and IV of RIPA will also apply in Scotland. There are formal authorisation procedures and two codes of practices, which public authorities should comply with. RIPSA provides a statutory basis to safeguard against challenges under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and creates a system of authorisations for various types of surveillance and the conduct and use of covert human intelligence sources.
In common with other Parts of the Act, the provisions themselves do not impose a requirement on public authorities to seek or obtain an authorisation where, under the Act, one is available, see section 30 RIPSA. Nevertheless, the consequences of not obtaining an authorisation under this Part may be, where there is interference by a public authority with Article 8 rights and there is no other source of authority, that the action is unlawful by virtue of section 6 of the HRA.
The Council is inspected regularly by an Inspector from the Office of Surveillance Commissioners. Accessing communications data is currently covered by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Communications Data Order 2003 SI 3172. This deals with England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Further information may be found on the Home Office website with a draft code of practice for accessing communications data, use the quick search for communications data.


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It always amazes me how we can have hugely rich archeological history very close by that goes unsung and unvalued, while we all dream about seeing the more famous sites. You know what they say about prophets in their own land, and I guess that's true about places as well; we don't value those nearby.
I've told you before that archeological evidence indicates that Mexcaltitán, just three hours south of Mazatlán, was probably the original Tenochtitlán—that Mezcaltitán was the legendary Aztlán, where the Aztecs (Mexica) lived before they moved to the Valley of Mexico. It's so very close, our own gorgeous little Venice, yet we hardly hear about it.
I've also heard many people say that here in Sinaloa historically there were no native peoples; that we don't have indigenous crafts or artwork because this area was only populated after the discovery of minerals in the mountains and the influx of Europeans. Hogwash! I've written before about the Mayo-Yoremes in the northern part of our state. Down here in the south, Totorames lived on the coast. They spread over quite a wide territory, as most of southern Sinaloa was connected by estuary; using a canoe they could easily get from one place to another. The Totorames often fought with the cannibalistic Acaxes and Xiximes who lived up in the Sierra Madres.
This week I learned from our friend, Joaquin Hernández, that Chametla—just 90 minutes from Mazatlán in the municipio of El Rosario—is the most important archeological site in all of northwestern Mexico! In Chametla are at least two pyramids built in pre-Hispanic times by the Totorames. Both were sacred sites, with platforms on top for sacrifices. Hernán Cortés himself visited Chametla, in 1535, before traveling over to La Paz; there are written documents and paintings that record this fact. Legend has it that he sat in the Cueva del Diablo looking out over the entire valley.
Near Chametla were 22 pre-Hispanic towns. What attracted so many Totorames to Chametla? The area is home to seven hills, which contain many caves. The Rio Baluarte runs through it; it's very close to the Pacific Ocean; it's fertile land; there's jungle as well; and it's right in the middle of the wonderful estuary system where historically mangroves and shrimp have thrived. In ancient times, there were three regions in southern Sinaloa: Sinaloa, Culiacán, and Chametla. Chametla comprised the territory from Escuinapa in the south to Piaxtla in the north. Only later was Mazatlán founded (on the present site of Villa Unión).
So, where are these pyramids? The first is the setting of the church in Chametla, at the foot of Cerro de San Pedro. I took some photos, but the pyramid is much easier to see live and in person. The church is built at the top, on the platform of the pyramid, while the lower part of the pyramid goes way beyond the church and down the hill. You can see that it's man-made.
In 1935, when they were renovating the church, they found a secret passageway behind the altar that led to an underground cave. There they found "pagan" icons and relics, so the church quickly sealed it all back up. There was a second entrance to the cave just outside the church, at the entrance to where the original church was located. That cave entrance is now covered with a huge boulder. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.
Cool, huh? Not as visually stunning as a Chichen-Itza, by any means, as this pyramid has been built on and tweaked over and over throughout the millennia; it's located right in the center of town. But, you can most definitely see its vestiges. The conquista of course was not just about conquering territory or even people; the conquistadores wanted to conquer the entire culture. So many churches are built on sacred sites of the indigenous peoples, as in Chametla.
And where is the second pyramid? It's a 400-meter pyramid on which the local cemetery is built, also clearly visible. Local people say that when graves are dug, they almost always dig up pottery and other relics from the Totorame. The best specimens of these can be found in the small museum that is right next door to the church.
If you go to Chametla, I'd urge you to hike the 365 steps up El Cerro de la Cueva del Diablo. At the top is a man-made cave, obviously another sacred site, with a view of the entire river valley, estuary, ocean… The view is spectacular. It is in the cave that you'll see an indentation that looks like two butt cheeks, and legend says that's where Cortés sat. While he wasn't in Chametla long enough to carve a seat, he may have enjoyed the gorgeous view, with the opening of the cave mirroring the curve of the hill it faces. On many of the hills in the area you'll find platforms, indicating they were sacred sites; Loma de Ramírez has a 100 meter x 100 meter platform. The area is splendid for hiking, with a diversity of flora and fauna as well as elevation and lots of water.
Joaquin is quite the historian. He has spent much time researching, talking to locals, hiking around; traveling with him and his daughter was a joy. One final tidbit he told us? One of the seven hills in Chametla is called Cerro de las Cabras. However, no one has ever heard of there being goats on that hill. Joaquin found an old, old manuscript that referred to a hill in Chametla as Tetas de Cabras, or "Goat Tits." His guess is that the vulgar-sounding part of the name was dropped or lost, so that only the goat part remains in modern times.
Joaquin speaks excellent English, as he lived and studied in San Francisco for several years. He frequently conducts presentations in both Spanish and English, so be sure to catch one if you are interested in history, literature… any of the many themes that spark the curiosity of this Renaissance man.
We happened to visit Chametla during the festival Chameitlán, celebrating 485 years since the founding of the town. I captured a photo of the cake and a few of the kids breaking the piñata. That's Hernán Cortés on the piñata, the children told me—not at all like I pictured him to look!
After Mass, the cake and the piñata, there was a parade through town. We didn't stay for it, but the young men in the Nautica band played, and the kids seemed to dress up as Indians. I also include a few other photos of the town.
If you enjoy hiking, history, archeology, kayaking, or if you'd just like to visit a small town and the estuary where the shrimpers still cast their atarrayas or hand nets, Chametla is a beautiful place to visit!


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Notice Number: NOT-RM-10-002
Key Dates
Release Date: February 5, 2010
Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH), (http://www.nih.gov)
The purpose of this notice is to communicate the intent to establish a new program: the Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to release three Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) to support establishment of LINCS. This program is informed by a workshop "Cellular Functional Signatures Framework" that was held September 23-24, 2008, http://commonfund.nih.gov/lincs/meetings/cfsf092308/report.asp
The overall goal of the LINCS program is to generate a knowledge base that will support the high-throughput collection and integrative computational analysis of informative molecular activity and cellular feature signatures. These data will be generated in response to a variety of perturbing agents, including siRNAs and small bioactive molecules, which are applied to a range of cell types. It is expected that successful applicants will have the capability of working with both siRNAs and small molecules, regardless of the research focus proposed in their application.
The goal of LINCS is not to address any one biological question but to develop a resource can be used broadly by the biomedical research community to address a wide variety of biological questions. Potential applications of LINCS knowledge base include but are not limited to: modeling of biological networks, elucidating how human genetic variants cause disease, classifying diseases by functional molecular criteria, developing novel molecular diagnostics, identification of novel use for existing bioactive small molecules, or identifying new therapeutic targets.
The first FOA within the LINCS program, "Large Scale Production of Perturbagen-Induced Cellular Signatures", is expected to be released by February 26, 2010 and will use the U54 grant mechanism. This FOA will seek to fund data production efforts that will produce a usable initial resource while addressing issues of optimization of methods, integration of data, and scalability. These data production efforts will interact with future computational tool development components of the LINCS program.
NIH encourages applicants to this FOA to take advantage of a technical assistance conference call sponsored by LINCS program staff. The purpose of the conference call is to provide potential applicants with background information and respond to questions about the preparation of an application in response to the first FOA. The conference call will take place on March 31, 2010 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm EDT. Information about this Pre-Application Conference Call will be available in the upcoming FOA.
The second two FOAs in the LINCS program are expected to be released by winter 2010 and to use the U01 grant mechanism.
This Notice is being provided to allow potential applicants sufficient time to develop meaningful collaborations and responsive projects.
Interested parties may contact:
Jennie Larkin
NIH Common Fund LINCS Program
Division of Cardiovascular Diseases
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
6701 Rockledge Dr.
Rockledge 2, room 8200
Bethesda, MD 20892-7940
Email: email@example.com
Phone: 301-435-0513
Weekly TOC for this Announcement
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices
Office of Extramural
Research (OER)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files.


text:
Sometimes, a night out for Shane Burcaw and Hannah Aylward can be awkward. After years of dating, the couple are perfectly comfortable around each other, but it's other people who can turn a pleasant evening cringeworthy.
Most commonly, strangers will assume Hannah, 23, is her boyfriend's nurse or mom. Sometimes, they'll speak only to Hannah, ignoring Shane altogether, or even invite Shane, 26, to play with their young children. Once, in the early stages of their relationship, a stranger grabbed Shane and began praying for him loudly in the middle of a restaurant.
"Which is all really romantic when we're on a date together," Shane joked.
But the young couple takes it in stride and tries not to let the uncomfortable moments get in the way of their time together.
The comments and attitudes come "from a lack of experience and knowledge with disability," Shane said.
Many of the misconceptions about their relationships stem from the fact that Shane uses a wheelchair and Hannah doesn't. Shane has a disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a genetic condition that causes a person's muscles to weaken over time.
Because of SMA, Shane requires help with most physical requirements of daily life, like eating, showering and going to the bathroom. But thanks to the help of family members and caretakers like Hannah, he maintains his independence and has started his own non-profit and written three books.
Early on, Shane understood his disease did not have a good prognosis and aspired to live his life to the fullest. But in 2016, the Food and Drug Administration approved a medication called Spinraza, the first drug to treat SMA and halt the progression of muscle atrophy.
Shane started using Spinraza, a costly drug which is injected into his spinal cord every four months, in August 2017 and has already noticed some life-changing differences. For example, just over a year after starting treatment, he was able to lift a cup to drink for the first time in years.
Because of his treatment, Shane now has a typical life expectancy.
Shane, a native of Pennsylvania, was featured in a 2013 documentary called "My Last Day," produced by actor Rainn Wilson. Hannah, who lived miles away in Minnesota, stumbled across the video on YouTube and was intrigued by the smart, wry young man.
Hannah found Shane's blog and learned they shared some common interests: they both liked to swim and travel and had a similar sense of humor. She sent him a short introductory email, "like a stalker" (as Shane would later note). Upon receipt, Shane was curious to know more and replied with his phone number. The two texted and FaceTimed until meeting in Pennsylvania for the first time in May 2016.
Their relationship quickly blossomed. Hannah learned how to lift Shane and help him perform other daily tasks. They went on dates and visited each other for two years until Shane decided to move across the country to live with Hannah, a student at Carleton College.
Despite their love for one another, they continued to experience misunderstandings and judgmental opinions about their relationship. So in June 2018, they began a vlog about their daily life together to normalize dating with a disability. They named their YouTube channel Squirmy and Grubs after their nicknames for one another.
The couple's videos range from lighthearted (Shane pulling Hannah on her longboard with his wheelchair) to heavy (will they be able to have kids). But one thing is constant throughout their episodes: they never take themselves too seriously. No matter what the topic, Shane and Hannah manage to insert their original brand of sardonic wit and good-natured teasing.
"Humor really helps people who aren't exposed to that kind of content normally feel more comfortable," Hannah said.
Today, their channel has grown to over 200,000 subscribers. They're very open about their daily life as they tackle personal topics like how Shane uses the bathroom, accessibility, and other men flirting with Hannah in front of Shane.
Though people continue to inappropriately question the legitimacy of their relationship, the vast majority of their videos are flooded with positive comments. For many of their fans, their honesty about life with a disability is refreshing.
"It is incredible how transparent these two are to allow us to see their lives. I have a better understanding on how to care for someone disabled," one user wrote.
"You guys are amazing and inspiring I never miss a video," wrote another.
"I think the response has been overwhelmingly positive," Shane said.
"And that's been really gratifying for us to hear and see from people that we're exposing them to something they may have never seen before and that they're experiencing it in a really positive way," he said.
They hope by being open they can break stereotypes about interabled relationships and demonstrate that people of all abilities deserve love.
"The widespread belief about disability is that disability equals sadness and isolation… and that's why we're trying so hard to share our story and show people that people with disabilities live happy, awesome, amazing adult lives," Shane said.
To watch or subscribe to Hannah and Shane's channel, click here.


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Sleep and Getting Ready to be Mobile, Again…
I've been sleeping through the night lately!! Its been great waking up and seeing the clock say something reasonable, like 6:00 am. I put the comforter back on the bed the other night and had the most beautiful sleep I … Continue reading
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I couldn't remember what had happened after the gargoyles said they'd help. It was as if I'd sputtered out of life and then swirled right back in, waking up in a warm, tawny bedroom. The bed was large and comfortable. The walls were made of calming stone and there were several candles burning, giving off a pleasant glow. It was so strange to be able to feel legs and feet, something I'd never known my whole life. I had no idea what had happened to me, but one thing was for sure, my legs would never be the same.
And then my stomach pricked with a jolt. I lifted my hands and couldn't believe they were attached to my body. These weren't mine. These hands and arms were long and delicate and…and…BLUE!
I bolted upright and shrieked, "Ahhhh!"
A middle aged woman burst into the room. The two gargoyles shuffled along behind her. "There, there, dear, what's all the fuss?" She had a kind face, sort of like a mom. She was really pretty with red hair and shiny blue lips. Wiping my forehead with the cold sponge, I calmed instantly. "Now, then," she said, "you've had quite a fright, I'd say, but all is well. Nurse Mellecant has made it better." She sat me up and settled next to me on the bed.
I swallowed, noticing my mouth was dry. "Could I have a drink of water?" My whole body was shaking. What was wrong with me?
"I can do better than that." She got up and turned to one of the gargoyles. "Ferbish, fetch a glass of that elixir I made earlier and for Great Guardian's sake! Put on your shroud. It's nearly nine in the morning."
She gave a stink eye to the other one. "And you, too, Grigor. Honestly, don't ye have any manners?"
Ferbish hustled behind Grigor like he was trying to hide from Miss Mellecant's wrath and hung his head, saying, "I'm sorry, Miss Mellecant, but we feel awful sorry about what had happened to the young lass, and we wanted the make sure she was all right."
"Yes, m'lady," Grigor agreed. "We was just sore afraid, we haven't gots more thoughts in our heads. Is she well?"
Miss Mellecant nodded and whisked a finger at them. "She's fine. Now get the elixir but only after yer decent. Understand?"
"Aye, me lady." The two huge creatures sauntered out the door.
She shook her head. "Goodness, you have to watch those two like a vampire in a room full of humans."
I giggled. Even though the gargoyles had wounded me, I was beginning to like them. "Miss Mellecant, thank you for taking care of me, but I need to know a few things." I scooted up, so I could sit straighter. "What exactly is wrong with me?" Thrusting my arm out, I showed her the strange light aqua color. "Will my skin go back to normal?"
"Oh, dear, yes, that." She fluttered her eyelashes and put on a wide grin, sliding next to me again. "Well, I've been chatting a bit with your friends, trying to sort it all out. And I examined your shroud. It seems it was created in a very different way than ours."
I cocked my head to the side. "Than the Under-realmers?"
"Exactly. You see, our shrouds are thin and light and we can whisk them off at any time, preferably every night. Sort of like taking off a coat or a hat."
Ferbish opened the door with a slow creak. My eyes widened. Instead of an huge, menacing gargoyle, he looked like a normal, muscular teenager. He placed a glass that held some flaming amber liquid on the bedside table. It did not look appetizing. I didn't want to drink it.
"Thank you, Ferbish," the nurse said.
Ferbish nodded then waved at me. "Hello, Miss."
My face warmed. He was actually cute. I couldn't believe I was attracted to a gargoyle. I had to get back to my own realm. And fast.
"I hope ye feels better, Miss. Just listen to Nurse Mellecant." He gave me a wink then strode out the door.
Miss Mellecant shook her head at him. "Silly boy. Even though they can be a nuisance at times, Ferbish and Grigor do have good hearts." She sighed then went on, "Now, getting back to your shroud. Ye see, it is much different than the Under-realm shrouds. For some reason, it was crafted by powerful magic that would hide your whole body and keep you subdued. Also, it was designed to be attached permanently."
She gave me the glass. The acidic mixture bit my nose. "Drink up, lass."
I choked at the smell of the stuff. One time Francisco had some smelling salts he used at mixed martial arts meets. He made me sniff it, and I about died since the scent felt as if it had burned all my nostril hair. This was no different. "Oh, Miss, I don't think I can." I turned my head and coughed.
"I know it has a wee bite to its head, but it'll go down smoothly, trust me." She insisted, and I felt I had to obey.
Plugging my nose with my fingers, I took a tiny sip. Surprisingly, it didn't taste bad at all. Taking the glass from the nurse, I sipped it again, but this time, it tasted like a caramel ice cream chocolate shake. "Yum!" I said and gulped it down to the last drop.
Nurse Mellecant smiled. "That's a girl. You're going to be as good as new in no time with that attitude."
I wiped my mouth. "Miss Mellecant, I've been thinking on what you said about my shroud. Does that mean this is my real skin color?"
"Indeed. It's a very fetching color, if you ask me. It sets off your golden eye color."
My eyebrows knitted. "But my eyes are green."
"No, lass. That's your shroud's color. Your true eye color is a brilliant, beautiful gold. But that's enough about that. Once you're well, you'll get all acquainted with the true you, but for now…" She fluffed up a pillow and pointed. "You need rest. Your body has been stuck in a chair its whole life and you, my dear, were never meant for a wheelchair." She tapped the end of my nose. "I had half a mind to report your parents to the high Tri-realm council for magical abilities suppression, but I have a suspicion they were trying to hide you, so anyway…" Miss Mellecant grinned making her eyes sparkle. "I won't worry you about it."
Just then I heard a knock and a dark haired Brenden peered inside. "May I come in?" His skin no longer glowed like it did outside in the night time.
As he stepped closer, I yelped, trying to hide my face. I didn't want anyone to see me like this even before I'd looked in the mirror. "Make him go away! No visitors!"
Disregarding me, the nurse shot up and welcomed him. "Yes, Brenden, come in and close the door. The lass seems a wee bit shy, but she'll snap out of it."
She waved her arms at me emphatically. "I dinna know why yer sore afraid, lass. He's got a good plan for yer escape. You should listen to him. But if he says anything to upset you, just give a shout and I'll come to the rescue, okay?"
She leaned in and whispered, "I know fairies have an untrustworthy reputation, but I've taken a shine to this one, and he says he's yer friend, so won't ye give him a chance, dear?"
I nodded. I might listen to Brenden, but he wasn't seeing my face. No way. I probably had one eye for all I knew. One ugly golden eye. Blecch.
After a few moments, I felt someone pat my arm. I peeked through my fingers.
"Athena?" Brenden said, "I'm…uh…er…sorry for my behavior earlier. I hope you will forgive the things I'd said. They were insensitive and absolutely, categorically out of line." I heard him sigh. After a few minutes of me not moving and him not speaking, he finally said, "Won't you stop hiding your face and talk to me?"
"No," I spat, almost in tears. I couldn't face him like this. I couldn't face anyone.
"If you're worried about what you look like, I've already seen you for hours." Then he whispered so lightly I could barely hear him, "You're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen in my life."
Gingerly, I peeked through my fingers again. "What did you say?"
Brenden bent down on his knees and reached toward my head, pulling a strand of my long hair out of my face. "Light blue skin and sparkling silver hair, no doubt a mixture of witch and brindle elf." He lifted my fingers in his. I felt a tickle ripple through me as my heart pounded.
"Long fingers from your elfin grandfather. And…" His gaze locked onto me.
"The eyes and scales of a…" He stopped suddenly, looking away and swallowing.
"Of a what?" I whispered, not sure if I wanted to know.
He drew in a deep breath and said, "Dragon."
Next update will be Wednesday, December 19th.
You may follow this story on Discord, Tumblr, Twitter or The Sims Forum.


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SoCal Championships Held Locally – Nov. 10/11 and 17/18
For the next two weekends, Kit Carson Park in Escondido and Brengle Terrace Park in Vista will be hosting the SoCal Disc Golf Series Championships. Ams will play Sat./Sun. Nov. 10/11, Pro will play Sat./Sun. Nov. 17/18. The tournaments will be the deciding factor in several of the SoCal Series season-long points races – prestigious titles that several top San Diego Aces are chasing. Registration is now open for both members and non-members. Both tournament weekends are proudly hosted by long-time SoCal sponsor Innova Disc Golf, and promise to have fantastic player packs and payouts to the top 50% of each division. All Am division winners will receive baskets, top 3 places will receive trophies. Check out the flyer below for more details:
Course layouts for the Am weekend: Kit Carson Park – Brengle Terrace Park
Sign up for the Am event at: http://www.discgolfunited.com/disc-golf-tournaments/tournament-dashboard.cfm/tourn_id/532
Sign up for the Pro event at: http://www.discgolfunited.com/disc-golf-tournaments/tournament-dashboard.cfm/tourn_id/533


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St. Patrick's Day dog harness - Rainbow Shamrock Stripe
St. Patrick's Day dog harness - Rainbow Shamrock Stripe
This dog harness vest is the perfect gift for your girl or boy dog!
Sizes are available for small/medium dog breeds and puppies. If you have a large dog breed, please contact me before you place your order. If you need a Custom size please PM me.
🐶Harnesses details:
•Handmade in California, USA
•Designer cotton fabric and breathable meshes make it soft and comfortable
•Heavy-duty cotton webbings and sturdy hardware
•All stress points of the harnesses are triple stitched
•Recommend dogs of all ages. Suitable for walks, trips and car travel.
•Engraving your dog's info is available
Please keep in mind, pattern placement on each harness varies due to changes in fabric print and size of the harness.
❤My handmade harness....why is it unique?
Every harness is handmade and customizes on the existing sizes by your dog's measurements. I don't charge a fee for doing that and that is the best way to make sure you get a harness fit your dog perfectly! You can also choose your preferred trim and buckle color if you want.
I will send you a recheck e-mail to get the measurements before I started to sew your harness. The listing photo shows you how to measure(chest girth and neck base).
After I sew the harness, I remeasure it before I ship. So that I can make sure the harness to match your dog's measurements.
For the STANDARD style harness, please notice:
I always add an additional 1 inch on your dog's neck base measurement. EX: If your dog's neck base is 14", I will make 15" - so that he/she can wear it comfortably.
So..make sure you don't measure your dog "too loosely".
Flowers and bow ties are recommended to hand wash. Harnesses, leashes, collars may be machine washed: Put in the mesh laundry bag and use gentle/low settings.
Fabric softener should never be used with any pet accessories.


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Thanks But No Thanks: Insurance Company Considers Suing Uncle Sam After Rescue
The video advertisement launched just before Christmas was stirring - a montage of devastated communities from Joplin, Missouri to New York city after Hurricane Sandy. Insurance officers of every race from the American Insurance Group (AIG), the world's largest insurance company, conveyed a simple message that they were back in business helping communities recover.
It's a remarkable turnaround for the company which received a massive $182 billion bailout from the U.S. government in September 2008 after facing certain collapse when it became obvious that the risky mortgages that it had insured were likely to fail. At the time the federal government took a 80 percent ownership stake in the company in return for the loan.
"We've repaid every dollar America lent us. Everything plus a profit of more than $22 billion," intone the AIG officials in the video. It ends with the words: "Now let's bring on tomorrow."
Well, tomorrow is here, and now the board of directors of AIG have been asked to consider suing the federal government over the terms of the bailout.
The lawsuit against the government is not new. It was originally filed in 2011 on behalf of AIG's shareholders by AIG's former CEO and chairman, 87-year-old Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. The plaintiffs allege that the U.S. government deprived AIG shareholders of tens of billions of dollars by charging the company an interest rate of 14 percent on the bailout loan. The basis of the claim is that other bank were bailed out on more favorable terms than the insurance giant received. It asks for $25 billion to compensate AIG and its shareholders.
Until now AIG's board has been silent about whether they would join the lawsuit but earlier this week, the board of directors of AIG held an unusual private mock-trial-like session about the matter, in which they heard from attorneys, representatives from the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve.
What the AIG board was asked to decide was whether or not they would like to join the lawsuit, take it over and pursue the claims independently, or if they would try to stop Greenberg's lawyers from pursuing the case on the company's behalf. If they tried to prevent Greenberg from continuing with the suit, AIG would potentially lose out on any lucrative potential settlement.
After the board meeting was reported Monday night, the backlash from legislators, regulators and the financial press was swift and scathing.
"Don't even think about it," wrote Peter Welch, a Congressman from Vermont, in a letter to Robert S. Miller, AIG's chairman: "AIG became the poster company for Wall Street greed, fiscal mismanagement, and executive bonuses-the taxpayer and economy be damned. Now, AIG apparently seeks to become the poster company for corporate ingratitude and chutzpah."
But former CEO Greenberg, who helped built AIG up from its beginnings in the 1960s, believes he has a case. "The (g)overnment loaned billions of dollars to numerous other financial institutions without taking any ownership in those institutions; it loaned billions of dollars to domestic and foreign institutions at interest rates that were a fraction of those charged to AIG; and it guaranteed hundreds of billions of dollars to institutions like Citigroup, Inc," the lawsuit states. "AIG and its (c)ommon (s)tock shareholders, by contrast, were singled out for differential - and far more punitive - treatment."
The lawsuit also accuses the government of violating the fifth amendment to the U.S. constitution which prohibits "taking private property for public use without just compensation" when it took the majority of the company's shares in return for the loan.
The plaintiffs contend that the government used AIG as "a vehicle to covertly funnel billions of dollars to other preferred financial institutions, including billions of dollars to foreign entities, in a now well-documented 'backdoor bailout.'"
(Greenberg, it should be noted, was forced to resign in 2005 after being accused of misrepresenting the company's finances.)
"There is no merit to these allegations," said Jack Gutt, spokesman for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in response to the news of the AIG's board discussion. "A.I.G.'s board of directors had an alternative choice to borrowing from the Federal Reserve, and that choice was bankruptcy," he told the New York Times.
The terms of the other bailouts were different, says commentators, because AIG was not a bank. "Those institutions were either banks that were already closely regulated by the Fed or became bank holding companies and submitted themselves to Federal Reserve regulation in return for access to the Fed's lending facilities," Time magazine reported.
Others note that AIG got a really good deal for the price, give the size and the nature of the loan. "Warren Buffett
loaned Goldman Sachs $5 billion at 10 percent annual
interest, plus upside in the form of warrants," writes Daniel Indiviglio of Reuters. "He ended up
booking an annual return of 14 percent without exercising the
warrants - far better than the government has managed from AIG
on the same basis." (The government ended up with about four percent in interest a year.)
Federal regulators also stress that the massive bail out of AIG was necessary because AIG was selling credit-default swaps that were intended to protect against subprime mortgage default - a major cause of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. If the insurance company had collapsed, the other banks and financial systems that it has insured would have gone down with it also.
"(W)e have no choice but to stabilize, or else risk enormous impact, not just in the financial system, but on the whole U.S. economy," Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, told CBS television in 2009.
On Wednesday the AIG board decided not to join the lawsuit. "The majority of directors decided that the reputational damage was greater than the possibility on a long-shot lawsuit," John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School, told the Washington Post.
Now Greenberg, whose lawsuit was initially thrown out of the courts in November 2012, will have to proceed without the insurance giant's backing to an appeal court, which has agreed to review the case.
- 185 Corruption


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Weary crews on Tuesday looked for a break in the weather to gain ground against a fierce Arizona wildfire that has already killed 19 of their fellow firefighters in the worst wildland fire tragedy in 80 years.
Fire managers say the so-called Yarnell Hills fire, which has already charred nearly 8,400 acres of tinder-dry chaparral and grasslands northwest of Phoenix, was zero percent contained as darkness fell on Monday evening.
The lightning-sparked blaze, which broke out on Friday afternoon near the community of Yarnell, has torched some 200 structures, most of them homes.
On Sunday, an elite squad of 19 firefighters died in the fire after they were outflanked and engulfed by wind-whipped flames in seconds, before some could scramble into cocoon-like personal shelters.
Details of Sunday's deaths of all but one member of the specially trained, 20-man Granite Mountain Hotshots were still sketchy as an investigation was launched into how the disaster unfolded. Information about the survivor, including his identity and how he escaped death, was not immediately released.
The remains of his co-workers were borne away on Monday in a cortege of 19 white coroner's vans to Phoenix for autopsies. The solemn procession from the team's home base in the town of Prescott was received by a police and firefighter honor guard.
A memorial service on Monday drew at least 1,800 people to a sports hall at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on the outskirts of Prescott. A lone piper played Amazing Grace, as friends and relatives wept and hugged.
Fire officials said the fallen men, most in their 20s were victims of a highly volatile mix of erratic, gale-force winds, low humidity, a sweltering heat wave and thick, drought-parched brush that had not burned in some 40 years.
They were trapped as a wind storm kicked up and the fire suddenly exploded on Sunday, said Peter Andersen, a former Yarnell fire chief who was helping the firefighting effort.
'The smoke had turned and was blowing back on us,' Andersen said. 'It looked almost like a smoke tornado, and the winds were going every which way.'
'NOTHING THEY COULD DO' The powerful gusts abruptly split the fire, driving it in two directions, then pushing flames back in on the hotshot crew, who were working on one flank of the fire front, he said.
Sunday's disaster in Arizona marks the highest death toll among firefighters from a U.S. wildland blaze since 29 men died battling the Griffith Park fire of 1933 in Los Angeles, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Wildfires have grown more intense in recent years at a time when U.S. firefighting resources have diminished. Since 2000, U.S. wildfires have burned an average of 7 million acres (2.8 million hectares) a year, up from an average of 3.3 million acres (1.3 million hectares) in the 1990s, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service's Fire and Aviation Management Budget was cut by 5 percent in fiscal 2013, reducing the number of firefighters to 10,000 from 10,500, NIFC spokeswoman Jennifer Jones said. And the budget for eliminating dry brush and other types of fuel has fallen each of the last three years, from $350 million in 2010 to $301 million in 2013, she said.
In Sunday's deadly blaze, the firefighters deployed their personal shelters, capsule-like devices designed to deflect heat and trap breathable air, in a last-ditch effort to survive, officials said.
Andersen said some of the men on the ground made it into their shelters, according to an account relayed by a ranger helicopter crew flying over the area.
'There was nothing they (helicopter crew) could do to get to them,' he said.
The deaths brought an outpouring of tributes from political leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, who is on an official trip to Africa. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer called the deaths 'one of our state's darkest, most devastating days' and ordered state flags flown at half staff through Wednesday.
Authorities who ordered the evacuation of Yarnell and the adjoining town of Peeples Valley say they were proceeding cautiously following Sunday's tragic events and hoped that strong winds that have driven the blaze would diminish on Tuesday.
'We need the winds to not pick up enough so we can safely move crews around,' fire spokeswoman Carrie Templin said.
The Yarnell Hills blaze was one of dozens of wildfires in several western U.S. states in recent weeks in what experts say could be one of the worst fire seasons on record.
The fallen firefighters were identified as Andrew Ashcraft, 29; Robert Caldwell, 23; Travis Carter, 31; Dustin Deford, 24; Christopher MacKenzie, 30; Eric Marsh, 43; Grant McKee, 21; Sean Misner, 26; Scott Norris, 28; Wade Parker, 22; John Percin, 24; Anthony Rose, 23; Jesse Steed, 36; Joe Thurston, 32; Travis Turbyfill, 27; William Warneke, 25; Clayton Whitted, 28; Kevin Woyjeck, 21; and Garret Zuppiger, 27.
(Additional reporting by David Schwartz and Dan Whitcomb; Writing by Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Sofina Mirza-Reid)


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Leucistic ABOY
Not an albino. This American Black Oyster Catcher is leucistic. A condition that is characterized by a reduction in pigmentation in its feathers. The pigment in his eyes are normal for this type of bird. I think it gives it a very striking look. In the top photograph you see a normal and the leucistic together for some perspective.Read More


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He held the camera with one hand while making notes using the other. He loved it when clients approached him to find proof against cheating spouses. It was easy money. Just follow the suspected man or woman, click a bunch of photos and send 'em along with a hefty bill. He saw the woman his client's husband was with.
That night he sent back his client's advance and left town.
The photo prompt has been given by Ted Strutz at the Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. The word prompt (Note) has been given by Girlie on the Edge hosted by Denise Farley.