A while back I wrote about Bugs and Spiders that had reference to a humongous spiderweb. Now those spiders are at it again and are busy spinning a second spiderweb across the lake from the first web. It really makes me wonder what the heck is going on with those spiders? Scary to most people, including me, but fascinating to ’spider people’.
Another scary thing that’s going on is in the cyber-world, a ‘botnet’. This botnet is a web of computers that have been infected by a nasty piece of malware known as Storm. In February the estimate number of compromised computers was over a million. Since February there have been several onslaughts of phishing emails designed to entrap the un-educated into visiting websites that once visited; secretly installed the worm (or Trojan Horse) known as Storm. This storm worm then added more and more of these zombie computers to the botnet.
The problems with this botnet are many. First, no one knows who is behind it, so there is no way law enforcement can stop it. The infected computers can be used to send out spam emails and other nefarious stuff. They can be used to steal the identity of the computer users, who have no idea their computer is infected. You can read more about all of this on Storm: The Largest Botnet in the World? Keep in mind this article was written back in February. It’s a lot worse by now!
About two months ago most of us received a lot of messages telling us we had received an egreeting card from someone. The messages varied; the subject could say it was from a school-mate, family member, etc. It could have said it was a greeting card, an ecard, postcard, etc. but every one of the messages told you to go to a website to collect your greeting and if you did, guess what; you got worms! If you had updated anti-virus it may have protected you, but then again, maybe not!
Then came another little jewel in email that went something like this:
“Greetings, Here is your membership info for Cat Lovers.”
Then it went on to provide you with a login and password. This little missive was intended to catch more unsuspecting users and give them a little ’stormy’ present!
So as much as I fear spiders (and their webs), I am much more afraid of the enormous web known as a botnet! You should be afraid as well!
Martha
Steve McQueen starred in a movie back in the 50s called The Blob. The ‘Blob’ was apparently an alien creature that was very hungry and every time it ‘ate’ someone by rolling over them and apparently absorbing them; it got bigger. When it got loose in a movie theater it got really big!
Last night on my local news there was a segment about mysterious blobs being found on and near the shores of a local lake. The pictures shown looked like a miniature of The Blob as in the movie! Icky!
Oh my, what strange things are happening here in Texas! First it’s the humongous spider web with thousands of spiders and now it’s the blob!
Well, it turns out the blob isn’t going to eat anyone and get bigger. (So they say! But Lake Grapevine is closed to the public! Are they really just trying to protect us?)
In a press release, the City of Grapevine said each one “is a colony of millions of tiny organisms (freshwater invertebrates called moss animals or ‘zooids’). The colony exudes a protective gelatinous material that makes it resemble a big ball of jelly.”
Mysterious Blob
They cause no harm, and their presence signifies good water quality. They actually clean the water by eating microscopic plants.
When they dry up, they turn into a paper like substance that crumbles and disintegrates.
I think Steve McQueen had to trap his big Blob in a diner and freeze it to stop it. Then they flew it to the Arctic so it wouldn’t thaw and start eating more people. Hm, with global warming do you think the blob will come alive and start getting big again with the polar bears?
The spiders have rebuilt their giant web again after the last rain. It’s not just one kind of spider either; at least twelve kinds have been identified. What’s going on here in Texas?
Martha
I don’t like bugs. In fact it is pretty accurate to say I hate bugs. Roaches, ants and bugs in general; I hate them all.
Where I live there are a lot of (shudder) spiders! All sizes of spiders, big spiders, small spiders and even some teeny tiny spiders. I am not sure what kind they are, although I did kill a black widow in the garage a few weeks ago. I am pretty sure most of them are not really dangerous other than giving me the creeps. I even found a scorpion on the kitchen floor the other day!
This is a relatively new housing development; most of the houses in this are are less than three years old. I suppose we have moved into the wild habitat of these little but scary creatures. However, I still don’t want to share living space with them. As long as they stay outdoors I won’t bother them, but I do NOT want them in the house!
I once saw a really creepy movie about spiders. They invaded and took over everything! Spooky, but I knew it was just a movie.
Now it looks almost like that movie in a park here in Texas! The Internet is all a buzzing about this huge spider web in Lake Tawakoni State Park. It covers several trees, bushes and even the ground in places. It is so scary some people won’t go near it. (I would be one of those people!) Web sites like CNN, USA Today and a lot more have stories about this huge spider web.
They do say just about anything can have a good side and this huge web is trapping thousands of mosquitoes! Sometimes folks can hear them screaming! (I don’t like mosquitoes either!)
Martha