209.60.102.107

Happy birthday, Joey!
Also, congrats to our friend Helen, who's getting married today!

I recently asked if anyone knew how to find out information about an IP address of an anonymous poster. My curiosity about this topic originated with a rather odd remark posted in my LJ comments section a while back, made odder by the fact they chose to remain anonymous. I've since turned off anonymous posting in my LJ, but it got me thinking to how one would find out more info about a particular IP address. Many thanks to all who replied with advice! In case anyone else out there is interested, here's a summary of the feedback I received:



From Katy:

"I use uwhois.com for such cases, however I would assume those sites might likely all use the same database ...?"

From Rob:

[zen] /home/doc $ dig -x 209.60.102.107

; <<>> DiG 9.2.4 <<>> -x 209.60.102.107
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 35589
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 5, ADDITIONAL: 2

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;107.102.60.209.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR

;; ANSWER SECTION:
107.102.60.209.in-addr.arpa. 86400 IN PTR tnt03-615.phlpa.fast.net.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
102.60.209.in-addr.arpa. 3600 IN NS dns4.uslec.net.
102.60.209.in-addr.arpa. 3600 IN NS dns5.uslec.net.
102.60.209.in-addr.arpa. 3600 IN NS dns1.uslec.net.
102.60.209.in-addr.arpa. 3600 IN NS dns2.uslec.net.
102.60.209.in-addr.arpa. 3600 IN NS dns3.uslec.net.

Looks like a dialup user from Philadelpha, PA, and is a fast.net customer. The reverse DNS name is the giveaway. tnt03-615 means he dialed up to an Ascend TNT (a big box of modems, essentially), on port 615. phlpa suggests it was Philadelphia, and fast.net is the domain name of the provider.

Of course, you really can't get any further with this. If the person is doing something abusive, you can probably file a complaint with abuse@fast.net (be sure to include date-stamped logs). If you're just curious, you'll have to narrow it down to people in the Philly area. :)"

From Gary M.:

"Yet another useful tool: abuse.net. You can enter a hostname there and it will tell you the address, if any, which that host offers for reporting nastiness by their users."

Also:

"Besides whois, traceroute is an important tool. It's particularly helpful because it tells you what host a private computer is connected to. On a Unix system, just type

traceroute xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Found my favourite cheese at the market yesterday!

Traceroute isn't built into the Windoze command line shell, but there are freeware you can use. There are also websites, such as samspade.org, from which you can do a traceroute. They also offer a set of downloadable tools which I haven't had occasion to use, but which includes traceroute, whois, and other good stuff."

From Tony F.:

"Hey, Debbie, for future reference, my favorite place for this kind of thing is:

http://www.dnsstuff.com

There is a huge array of tools there that let you do pings, traceroute, DNS lookups, reverse name lookups, etc.

Even if you've got those tools at your disposal on your own system already, it's sometimes helpful to have a remote site run those same tools for you. For example, if your own local DNS servers are having a problem, you can get a second opinion from their DNS servers.

Very useful!"

From cdenise:

"Search results for: ! NET-209-60-0-0-1

OrgName: USLEC Corp.
OrgID: USLC
Address: 6801 Morrison Blvd
City: Charlotte
StateProv: NC
PostalCode: 28211
Country: US

NetRange: 209.60.0.0 - 209.60.255.255
CIDR: 209.60.0.0/16
NetName: TXFER-FAST-USLEC-BLK-16
NetHandle: NET-209-60-0-0-1
Parent: NET-209-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: NS1.FAST.NET
NameServer: NS2.FAST.NET
Comment:
RegDate:
Updated: 2004-07-08

Current favourite tea. (click for bigger image)

OrgAbuseHandle: ABUSE34-ARIN
OrgAbuseName: Abuse
OrgAbusePhone: +1-704-319-1248
OrgAbuseEmail: abuse@uslec.com

OrgNOCHandle: NOC136-ARIN
OrgNOCName: Network Operations Center
OrgNOCPhone: +1-800-978-7532
OrgNOCEmail: noc@uslec.com

OrgTechHandle: RUSSE-ARIN
OrgTechName: Russell, Fred
OrgTechPhone: +1-704-319-1333
OrgTechEmail: frussell@uslec.com

# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2005-05-06 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database."

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tranzac

Hey, my sister's book, Me and My Sister, is in its SECOND printing. How very cool.

Really enjoyed the Irish music session at the Tranzac last night. I had to miss the last two biweekly sessions, so was going through withdrawal pangs. Bigger crowd yesterday evening. We started off by learning Sweet Biddy Daly, went over Charlie Harris #1 (which they apparently learned last session), and then did a round-robin. I chose Dusty Windowsills. Also played along on several other tunes including The Butterfly, the tune I learned at my last whistle lesson.

Instead of leaving around 9:30 pm as usual, I decided to stay as late as possible. So glad I did! More of the seasoned pros started showing up then, and the session started speeding up and including lesser-known tunes. I put my whistle down and just listened for most of it, all the while feeling incredibly lucky to be in the audience.



Did pick up my whistle and play during St. Mary's Polka, though, which is apparently another name for Paige's Polka, the tune Dave Clement taught me at FKO! You can find a version of it at TheSession.org (it's also known as Gurteen Cross). Click on the tabs along the top to find the ABC transcription and sheet music. I updated the database to list its alternate name as Paige's Polka.

Anyway, Karen Light (my whistle teacher) led the tune and told the others I had taught it to her. :-D When the tune was over, Dennis showed us a variation we could add. I love this oral tradition of learning tunes, which I'm finding far more satisfying than learning tunes on my own or from a recording.

One challenge I'm finding is keeping up my tunes while still learning new ones. Attending sessions regularly helps tremendously because the tunes settle into your brain, making it easier to pick them up again. And I have much more sympathy for those who can play a tune but can't remember the name; I'm starting to find this as well. I'm also finding, as Mary Bertke described, that my ear is improving. I may not have purposely memorized a tune, for example, but find I can play along in a session simply because I've heard it so often and because there are certain musical patterns that occur frequently across tunes.

Also starting to recognize more of the players. Let's see (writing this list down for my own reference)...

Karen - my whistle teacher, also plays concertina
Dennis - banjo, one of the group leaders
Bob - pipes, sells the Black Book, one of the group leaders
Heather - accordion
Emma - whistle
Tim - whistle
Lisa - flute
Frances - flute
Nick - pipes, flute, whistle
Bob & Patricia - father (accordian) & Patricia (concertina)
Deirdre - flute
Nick & Jodi - whistle & concertina
Emily - whistle, the only other Asian I've seen so far
Adam - concertina
Mike - fiddle

There are others I chat with but don't know their names yet. And yet others with whom I've corresponded with in e-mail but haven't connected their names with faces yet. The group changes each session, and also changes over the course of each session as people come and go.

I am so SO glad I decided to open the door at that first session last December.

15 more days.

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productivity and Internet surfing

Still finding Backpack immensely useful. I check my main To-Do list every day and e-mail myself a copy so I can take my laptop offline and still have access to the list. Thanks to the Backpack people for posting my cartoon in their Web log!

After posting the picture from our Nahanni trip yesterday afternoon in Blatherings, I got distracted and started fixing up some of the pages in my old trip report. Augh. I'm so bad.

I'm going to follow a tip offered by writer Jennifer Gibbs in this excellent article she has on her Web site. She warns new writers that the home computer is one of the dangerous enemies of productivity; I think her advice easily applies to many seasoned writers as well! Her advice:

"...Be sure to make an accessible list of what exactly it is you are looking for, and even better, give yourself a maximum time limit that you can spend. If you don't already have one, go out and buy an egg timer and keep it handy. This single purchase has increased my productivity and prevented me from wasting a lot of time."



Instead of an egg timer, I'm going to use the computer timer I use to remind me to take arm breaks. Whenever I start "just checking e-mail" or surfing in the middle of the work day, I'm going to set the timer for five minutes. I tried this yesterday, and I was shocked at how quickly the time went by.

When I'm working on fiction writing, I can take my laptop somewhere there's no Internet access. When working on nonfiction projects, I find the Internet invaluable for checking facts, doing market research, etc. The challenge, however, is not to let a so-called "just checking this fact for work" session turn into a "well, I might as well catch up on some blogs and HEY, what an interesting news story, must follow that up for just a bit..." tangent.

For those who work with constant Internet access, especially those who work at home and therefore aren't being supervised by anyone other than yourself...what tips do you have for staying productive and minimizing your time online? Please post your answers in Livejournal or Blatherchat (see links below). I'll compile answers and link to the results from Inkygirl as well as here.

Thanks!

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Fitness and writing

Construction still going on in the apartment upstairs. Somewhat more distant-sounding, so at least the drilling isn't quite so mind-screamingly irritating. Still SO looking forward to moving into our new house; at least when there's drilling there, I'll know it's OUR construction.

Writing's going well. Part of the reason is because my arms are getting much better (yay!). I've started to use weight machines in the fitness room, something I haven't done since before the tendinitis stuff first hit several years ago. I have to set the machines on the lowest weight possible and still can only do a pitiful few reps before my muscles tire out, but it's a start. And a far cry from a couple years ago when I couldn't even cut my own food.

Corel Painter doodle. Pencil outline, gouache and chalk fill.

Anyway, the rest of me is doing okay and my daily crunches are paying off; I can even almost see my abs! Wee things, they are, but still... ;-) Did a lot of power walking over the winter, and I've also been cooking from scratch more, eating less processed food. I used to avoid cooking from scratch because I figured it took too much time but I'm finding that it's possible to find simple low-prep recipes that are still healthy. Plus I like experimenting with different fresh ingredients.

Also doing more running in the fitness room upstairs than outside right now since this area isn't the greatest for outdoor sports. Even walking is a challenge because of the clusters of smokers frantically puffing outside almost all the building entrances; it's impossible to go anywhere without inhaling second-hand smoke every block or so. Ugh. Ironically, it was more fun to go walking in the winter, even in crappy weather; the smokers stayed inside.

Anyway, I definitely do find that keeping up a regular exercise program gives me more energy. When I slack off, I inevitably get drowsier in the afternoon, feeling sluggish and lazy, uninspired.

Sent out two queries yesterday, but I'm focusing on my novel right now. Another reason writing's going so well is that I'm starting to be more aware of how much time I spent online. It's so easy to lose track of time when I "just check e-mail one more time" or browse blogs, or even when I start off by fact-checking but then get distracted by interesting-looking links. More on this topic in a future Blathering.

The following photo is another from the archives; it was taken on our Nahanni River canoe trip six years ago: Frebis and me after a gruelling hike up Sunblood Mountain. For the trip report archives, click here. Hey, I just tried typing in "nahanni canoe trip" into Google, and my trip report comes out at the top! How cool is that?

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William Shatner and Fairy Tails

I was browsing through the Toronto Star on Saturday and my attention was caught by the familiar-looking face to the right: William Shatner. Looked closer at the so-called "appointment" (click on the image to see the full clipping) and realized it was an advertisement for All-Bran. Pretty amusing, once I got over the bizarre first impression....

Anyway, I visited our old place on the weekend to check for mail, and found a priority mail delivery from Tekno Books with page proofs for a short story I co-wrote with Michelle Sagara West several years ago. Looks like DAW's publishing the anthology after all, yay! It's called Fairy Tails, and will be coming out in September. In case you haven't guessed already from the title, the common theme involves cats and fairy tales. Ironic, really, since both Michelle and I are allergic to cats.

Other authors in the anthology include Charles de Lint, Alan Dean Foster, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Josepha Sherman, Jody Lynn Nye and Andre Norton. I'm sure Michelle's jaded about this by now, having published a zillion short stories already, but I'm pretty darned thrilled.

18 more days until we get possession of our new house. Jeff and I have decided we're going to stay over the first night even though we aren't officially moving in until after renovations are finished; we're going to bring sleeping bags and stay in an empty house. OUR empty house.

Are we excited? Ok, maybe just a tad. :-)

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