Sarasota Soundings

Ordinarily, I don’t report on high-tech topics. As a former technical writer and software engineer, I have indeed been there and done that. Nonetheless, I continue to stay in touch with technology. And, like most readers of this blog, I regularly receive “alerts” from well-meaning friends who are fowarding those alerts from THEIR friends to do—or not to do—something involving some peril on the Internet.

Sand Worm from Dune

You know what I mean: those WARNINGS (in upper-case letters for added urgency) to “delete any message that includes a link to an e-card from a greeting card vendor…” And your friends will swear, that “It’s verifiable on snopes.com…Really.”

However, over the past few days, among my incoming e-mail messages, I’ve noticed a pattern that causes me concern. The steady stream of spam I normally receive anyway, has begun to emanate from legitimate companies.

As an example: I received the following “offer” for “Canadian drugs” from xptlgrb@booksinmotion dot com. Of course, the e-mail address, the topic, and the included hot-link (bestcheapcanadiandrugs dot com) would tell most of us right away that this was spam. But as I opened my spam filter to add yet another discount Internet pharmacy to my ever-lengthening list, I couldn’t help wondering why a company called Books In Motion dot com might have an interest in sending me spam e-mail hawking bogus Viagra.

On typing the Books In Motion Web address into my browser, I discovered that it seemed to be a legitimate online company with no apparent interest in offering me the opportunity to improve my sex life at a significant discount. BIM sell audio books on tape and DVD. In fact, some of the titles they have on offer are from The New York Times best-seller list.

I’ve been following the news about the conficker.b worm coiling its way through the Web. Based on analysis of my own incoming e-mail, I’ve begun to speculate if—along with the nefarious things any virus can do to an individual computer—this one might have the power to co-opt a domain name and create its own e-mail addresses on that domain. Or worse—having usurped an email address from a legitimate company, could the worm begin sending out spam with links to other sites that, in turn, could cause even more harm?

If you Google the phrase ‘conficker.b worm,’ you’ll find a lot of reports about what the worm does to an individual machine and how it seems to be creating a “botnet” linking thousands of computers together for the sole purpose of spreading the worm.

Not surprisingly, and true to the mythology of the Web’s alternate universe, conficker.b’s demonic creators are chortling that April First is going to be a very auspicious day in the life of their pet worm.

But the reporters, pundits, and prognosticators are more than a little vague about what may actually happen. Could it be that I’m one of the anointed ones and being treated to a sneak preview? Will I get a bazillion spam e-mails on April 1 from legitimate—if innocent and unwitting—companies whose marketing departments have no idea they are offering me discount drugs from Canada?

I don’t know, but I confess that I am more concerned about this one than any among all the viruses I’ve seen over the past two decades.

So I went to the mountain. I visited Microsoft’s Website to see what their pantheon have to say about conficker.b. Again, they have a lot of information about what it does, but they’re a little light on what the perversion is supposed to achieve. Nevertheless, I downloaded and installed the latest Microsoft patch for my operating system, and I’ll be checking back regularly with the gods on high in the week leading up to April 1.

What should you do? Well, don’t panic. There are tons of information out there that describe the symptoms as well as the remedies. Here are a few of the steps I’ve taken (and I will not post comments that suggest getting a Mac or running some flavor of Linux):

• Visit the Microsoft Web site and download the latest patch for your operating system.

• Be sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date. Conficker.b is most likely to arrive as a hot-link (a clickable Web address) within an email from a compay that appears to be legit. (The big three—Norton, McAfee, and Kaspersky—are all updated several times each day.)

• Just for fun, back up your My Documents directory to an external hard drive, a thumb drive, a CD, or a DVD. That’s good practice anyway, and I’m as guilty as anyone else for letting it slide.

• Speaking of external devices, go to this link at Microsoft and follow their instructions for disabling Auto Run. Apparently, conficker.b likes to hide out on thumb drives and external hard drives.

As a final precaution, I probably won’t start my computer on April 1, at least not until I’ve heard the morning stories on the BBC. Of course, your mother has already given you the best advice for dealing with computer security issues: Don’t accept cookies from strangers.

Of all the combinations of flavor and texture that one may experience around the Mediterranean rim, the salads of Morocco are among the brightest surprises. There are scores these side dishes, which vary by region and season—indeed, from house to house. Moroccan salads may include any or all of these: sugar, distilled orange-blossom water, cinnamon, cumin, caraway, saffron, cilantro, parsley, mint, red onions, chillies, or a few drops of argan oil (expressed from pits of the fruit of Argania spinosa, a desert tree indigenous to Morocco.)

Backyard Mineola Orange
Copyright © 2009, Skip Lombardi

Beets and oranges are a favorite pairing; depending on a cook’s whim, the two might also be combined with other vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, peppers, or turnips).

Interesting and delicious as these North African permutations are, we think Florida’s late winter citrus and local beets are best appreciated with just a few adornments. (Whoever said that flavorful greens and root-crops can’t be grown in the sandy soils of the Sunshine State has not sought out the beets of Florida’s farmer’s markets. Our source says that his are harvested in the area around Lake Okeechobee.)

Dressed simply with olive oil and lemon juice, this gorgeous salad is easy to prepare and complements grilled fish, poultry, or meat equally well. Try to use an orange cultivar that has few seeds and is easy to peel. For maximum color contrast, crimson beets are our choice. (Be sure to save the greens and stems to stir-fry or add to soups).

Copyright © 2009, Skip Lombardi

The spirit of Morocco and the taste of our our local produce both come through in this dish.

Beet and Orange Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb Crimson beets (Skins left on; tops removed & saved for another use)
1 lb Sweet oranges (Mineola, Honeybell, Temple, and tangelo work well)

Juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
2 Tbsp Olive oil
Black pepper, freshly and coarsely ground
1/2 Tbsp Sweet-hot paprika, or to taste (see note)
1/2 tsp coarse salt

2-3 Tbsp snipped spearmint leaves, plus a sprig for garnish

Preparation:

Copyright © 2009, Skip Lombardi

Cook the beets, in their skins, until you can pierce one with a sharp knife blade. (We like a little resistance at the center.) Allow to cool and slip off the skins. Slice in rounds, 1/4 inch thick, and set aside.

Peel the oranges carefully, trying not to separate the segments. Remove as much of the membrane as you can. On a large plate (to catch the juice), cut the oranges across the segments into slices 1/2 — 1/4 inch thick. (Some slice more easily than others; save any “broken” segments.) Pick out any seeds. Reserve the juice to pour over the salad later.

On a clean platter, place any less-than-perfect pieces of orange and cover them with overlapping slices of beets and orange. Pour the excess orange juice over the beets.

20 minutes before serving, squeeze the juice of the lemon (or lime) over all. Drizzle on the oil and then sprinkle with salt, black peper, and the paprika (see note). Finely snip the mint over the entire platter. Garnish with a full sprig of mint.

Serves 2 — 4

Sihhateyin! Bon appetit!

Whether or not you have already enjoyed Pasta ai Caviale along on the Italian Riviera, you’ll find that the dish will bring a little warmth to a mid-winter evening anywhere. Though light enough for a late-night summer supper, at this time of year it’s a favorite pasta course in a more substantial meal. Ligurians typically use black lumpfish caviar.

For Valentine’s Day, we find the reddish-pink of salmon roe to be a more festive, and equally affordable, touch. The translucent orange beads of trout roe and Japanese tobiko (flying fish roe) are comparably priced. They, too, impart a bright, briny flavor and pleasant crunch.

A well-chilled Verdicchio, Prosecco, or Portuguese vinho verde would complement the dish and still leave you enough cash for fresh flowers.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Pasta ai Caviale

Ingredients:

3 Tbs. Unsalted butter
2 Scallions, including green tops, finely chopped
3 or 4 Grinds of the pepper mill
1/2 Cup mascarpone or sour cream
4 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
4 oz. Salmon or other red “caviar”

1 Lb.Fettucine or linguine

Garnish:

1 Lemon, quartered
4 sprigs of parsley

Preparation:

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat, then add the butter. When the butter has foamed and the foam begins to subside, add the scallions and a few grinds of pepper. Sauté until the scallions are wilted, about one minute. Add the mascarpone or sour cream and reduce heat. Simmer for a minute or two.

When the water comes to the boil, add the pasta.

As the pasta cooks, simmer the sauce for another minute, then remove from the heat. Stir in the parsley and set the sauce aside until the pasta finishes cooking.

When the pasta has reached the al dente state, drain in a colander, reserving approximately one cup of the cooking water. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss gently to combine. If the sauce seems too thick, add some of the cooking water, 1/4 cup at a time.

To serve:

Divide pasta and sauce equally among four plates. Let the pasta cool for one minute on the plates before garnishing with the caviar. (If the pasta is too hot, it will “cook” the roe).

Top each portion with a tablespoon or two of the caviar.

Garnish each plate with a lemon wedge and a parsley sprig. Let each diner squeeze on his own lemon juice, to taste.

Serves four.

Nancy Killefer and Tom Daschle have withdrawn their names from consideration for administration appointments because of irregularities in their tax returns. A couple of weeks ago, Tim Geitner might have done the same. As one who voted for Mr. Obama, I am less disturbed about the perception that anyone slipped under the vetting radar than I am that members of his administration and economic resuscitation team are not vociferously pushing the simplification of US tax codes. That is the reason why it is better to approach the Nottingham best Accountants to clear this crisis. Surely, this cluster of embarrassments indicates the crushing need to do that now.

Two consuming preoccupations of American society set us apart from our counterparts in other industrialized countries:

1) We worry ourselves sick about health care—its cost and our our access to it.

2) Our entrepreneurs and corporations are burdened by increasingly complex requirements to record, maintain, and retain records so as to pay—or not pay—state and Federal income taxes. It has now become virtually impossible for an individual to fill out an error-free Federal tax-return without help from a south carolina registered agent.

While these two concerns may not always be seen as closely linked, I believe that taking bold action now—on either health care or the tax code—could sustain the new administration’s adrenaline rush and lead to improving both situations.

The sheer complexity of health care administration—be it for a physician’s office, an insurer, or the family of a senior—frequently demands the hiring of outside help. Ditto for the tax bookkeeping requirements of a small business-owner. And while paperwork compliance may provide endless employment opportunities for accountants, it does little for our nation’s collective peace of mind.

For the unencumbered freedom to spend more time at my various “jobs,” for the privilege of NOT having to think about what I can claim as a tax deduction—I would happily pay a “flat tax.” And even if my own taxes might rise, I would consider accepting this increase in exchange for the reassurance that more Americans could have access to good, preventative health care.

I am self-employed, a capitalist with broadly liberal social views. I know that there are millions of US citizens across all economic and political strata who feel as I do.

Our businesses are too focused on tax incentives and penalties. Many don’t hire new staff because they cannot afford employee health care or shoulder the additional accounting costs to make sure they’ve paid all the proper employee withholding taxes.

All of us could profit from additional time to reflect and innovate, spending more time talking R & D, less time thinking IRS.

Writing in The NY Times, February 3rd 2009, How to Avoid a Tom Daschle Tax Problem, Ron Lieber suggests how to avoid what has befallen the new administration.

Compiling advice from various accountants and financial planners, he quotes one:

Can’t you just see H & R Block setting up workshops for pre-schoolers?

Undaunted, Mr. Lieber gives his readers some prudent tips, admits his father is an accountant, and then sums up:

Great! Right on! But then Mr. Lieber finishes with this zinger:

Let’s not forget: that’s the government mindset that improved airline security by giving us the TSA…