Always Where You Least Expect

When people would say they found their girlfriend or spouse online, I used to think that was a bit strange.  How could somebody find their perfect match on a website?  It was a few weeks ago that my opinion was completely turned around and I understood completely how possible it was.

Ever since my last relationship broke off a couple of years ago, I had been taking it slow, going on dates here and there.  But although the girls I would date were really nice, I just didn't hit it off with them and the relationships didn't seem to progress.  Then, one day, my sister felt inspired to have me sign up for LDSSingles.com, an LDS dating website.

Because Steph felt so strongly about having me sign up, I created a profile, added a small bio, and threw about ten pictures on there from my Facebook page.  I completed all of the surveys and started looking at the different profiles, but I really didn't have any hope that I would find someone on that website.  That is, until I received a message from a profile with this picture:

I was really intrigued.  Not only was I blown away by how cute the girl in the picture was, I was also surprised that she would send me a message instead of just a flirt (basically sending an emoticon to someone with nothing else).  First, this meant that if she was able to send me a message that she was paying for membership on the website, and second, it meant that she was interested enough in knowing me that she was willing to make the first move and contact me.

I was determined to meet this mystery girl, and decided then and there to find my wallet in order to fully subscribe to the website.  It was torture waiting the two hours for the website to activate the membership before I could respond back.

We started sending each other messages on a regular basis, and the messages themselves got longer and longer.  Even in digital form, we were really able to get to know each other, and it was remarkable how much we had in common.  It seems like every email revealed more similarities between us, whether they were interests and hobbies, or even the fact that we are both left-handed.  I began to look forward to each moment that I would be alerted of a new message waiting for me in my inbox.

The time finally came when we were able to meet up and go on our first date.  I was pretty nervous, but at the same time extremely excited.  I had planned to take her to dinner and then, if things were going well, to maybe get some dessert somewhere as well.  I rang her doorbell and, although I was expecting as much, was shocked when the beautiful girl from the photos, Whitney Day, answered the door.  She was breathtakingly gorgeous and her smile lit up the neighborhood.  I knew then and there that a special night was in store.

We went to Brick Oven in Provo for dinner, where we became so engrossed in conversation that we stayed there for over three hours just talking and getting to know each other.  With each topic, we discovered just how alike we really were and that our standards, beliefs, hopes, dreams, and future plans lined up perfectly.  It was as if I had known her for years, as opposed to days.  This did not feel like a normal first date for me.  Instead of emotionally preparing an exit for myself so as not to get too attached and open myself up for getting hurt, I found myself wondering even while we were together when I would get to see her again.

After we left the restaurant, we decided to go to Macey's in Provo to get some ice cream, and while eating our dessert we were once again amazed at how similar we were in everything we talked about.  It was so surreal to me that someone so beautiful and so amazing could still be single, and that she was interested in spending time with me.

After ice cream we reluctantly decided that it was time to head back to her house and call it a night, as I was leaving on a motorcycle trip the following morning and still hadn't packed.  As we drove back to her house, my mind was racing, wondering how I could ever convince a girl that perfect to want to do something again with me.  I had been hurt in the past in past relationships and it was difficult to come out of that comfort zone again, and I didn't know how to proceed.  I could tell already that I liked her and really wanted to get to know her.

We sat in my car for a little while, talking and playing each other our favorite songs on our iPods.  It was there that I opened up and told her plainly how much I enjoyed the time that we spent together and how grateful I was that she messaged me on that website so that we could have the chance to get to know each other better.  I expressed to her how amazed I was that we had so much in common, and that I really wanted to see her again, to which she readily agreed.

We got out of the car and I began walking her to the door.  We gave each other a hug, and then I did something that was as much a surprise to me as it was to her:  I bent down and gave her a kiss.  I had never kissed anyone on a first date before, but there was something about Whitney and how special she was that drew me in and it just felt like the perfect way to leave her with no doubt about how I felt about her.

Dazed but elated, I said my goodbyes and went back home, truly on cloud nine from the amazing experience that I just had with such an amazing girl.

I left for my motorcycle trip with my cousin and my friend down to Bryce Canyon and during the long hours on the highways, I found my mind constantly drifting back to her, to the wonderful night we shared together the previous day, and how much I already missed being with her.  Throughout the trip we would text each other as much as possible, and it was torturous whenever I would enter an area that had no cell reception.

After returning home from my trip, we quickly made several plans to be with each other again that week.  We spent time watching movies, going to dinner, watching the stars together, and we even got to drive up to Brigham City together to go through the Brigham City Utah Temple open house, which was a wonderful night.  I loved being able to spend so much time with her, having very meaningful conversations and feeling completely at ease and able to be myself around her.

That Friday we had the chance to see a theatrical production of Wait Until Dark in Provo, which was very exciting.  It was also our one-week anniversary of knowing each other beyond emailing back and forth, and Whitney surprised me that night with a CD that she made for me with several songs that reminded her of us, which she organized in order of how our relationship had progressed.  It was so sweet, and the album has scarcely left the CD tray of my car since that time.

But the fun didn't stop there.  The very next day I was invited by her family to accompany them and her to a BYU game in Provo, which was extremely fun.  I hadn't been to a live BYU football game for at least ten years, and it was very nostalgic to enter the stadium again.  But this time I got to enter the stadium hand-in-hand with a very pretty girl, which made it that much better.

The adventures have been never-ending.  Since that week, we have never missed a chance to see each other, spending time with each other every single day, rain or shine, even when we have been exhausted from work.  We have done so much together, and even something as simple as going shopping at the mall has been incredibly fun for me because it means that I get to spend more time with her.

It hasn't been too long that we've known each other in conventional terms, but as I mentioned before, I feel as if I have known her my entire life.  She is the most wonderful girl I have met in my life, and can easily say that she owns the key to my heart and that I love her more than life itself.  With each passing day she grows more beautiful and I see more and more examples of just what an incredible person she is.  It is my ever-present goal to make sure that I am always deserving of her love, and I am willing to do everything I can to make sure that she is happy.

It still shocks me that I could meet the love of my life from an online dating website.  It just sounds bizarre.  But I am so glad that I was able to sign up for that website and have the amazing opportunity to meet Whitney, who has made me happier than I can remember.  I can't wait to see what the future holds in store for us, and I know that there are many, many more adventures to come.

GR33N SHOW!

After we placed first in the first wave of the Rock the River battle of the bands competition, the band and I have been working nonstop to really take to heart the advice that was given to us by the judges, especially because it was advice that we were planning on taking soon anyway.

Which advice am I referring to?  The advice that we really need to (1) decide on a logo/branding for the band, (2) define a band image, and (3) figure out a wardrobe that both unified us as a band yet allowed us to be individuals at the same time.

Believe me when I say that we spent hours and hours working on these together.  Goodnight Annabelle is unique in that band business doesn't just take place when we're all together in one place, but never really stops.  Throughout the week, we send out dozens of different emails to each other, going over branding ideas, creating and deciding on logo and other image designs, writing lyrics, and cover loads of other topics.  We even record and upload music that we write while by ourselves so that the band can listen and add to it so that we can incorporate the ideas during our normal jam sessions.

Over the past few weeks we have accumulated dozens of different logo designs, and after going over all of our options, we finally decided on a couple of variations.

This goal coincided with another project that Byron and I were working on, together with Adam Boyd (my old band Formerly So's sound technician and a very talented graphics designer), to build a sound-activated LED system into the kick drum that would correspond with our music during live sets.  This idea spawned from my cousin Ty Jensen's drum set, which had a white strobe light that flashed according to the bass hits, back when he was in the band New Holland.  He now films music videos for a living in LA, and actually directed my old band's music video.

Many hours were spent researching how best to go about this and a lot of time was wasted in custom wiring jobs before we were able to get it right, but in the end it turned out perfect.  Adam even took a simplified version of our logo and created for us a custom vinyl decal to place on the drum head for the light to shine through.  Also, being the stud that he is, Adam also crafted several similar decals for us to give to fans, and also gave me a decal that I was able to place on my bass amp which matches the drums.



For those of you who may think the name Adam Boyd sounds familiar, this is because it is the same Adam Boyd who recently designed a custom bass guitar for me, which I am in the process of completing by adding electronics, a fretboard, etc.  I hope to get it up and running soon so that I can start using it in performances.

The drum head project turned out so well that, as we deliberated together on how to best unify our appearance, we decided that it would be awesome if we actually used a color-themed image.  We decided to take three neon colors and use those to define the band image, both on stage and in our web presence.

In terms of show apparel, we decided that we would all wear mostly blacks and/or grays, but each with an emphasized article using the color that we had chosen for that day, as we hoped to have shows in which we have different colors at the forefront.  For example, one show would be a "green" show where we would all wear green, another would be a "pink" show, and so forth.

We decided that the Provo Block Party II show with Allred would be our moment to put to the test our little concept.  The number of emails back and forth flared up again as we all scrounged to find the clothing and other items that we needed before the show.  But we also decided to add another piece to the puzzle:  Team GnA

The support that we receive from our fans is simply astounding.  That was one of the first things I noticed when I joined the band, was how dedicated the fanbase was.  So we decided that it was finally time that GnA got its own street team.  First, a Facebook group was created called Friends of GnA, in which anyone could be invited that wanted to.  We posed the question to them of whether or not they wanted to actively help us to promote our shows and help us in developing our band ideas and were shocked at how many instantly wanted to take part.

We had so many requests to play part that Sam was forced to create somewhat of an application form so that we could divide the participation into different tiers:  One overall team, broken down into smaller geographical teams, and the Friends of GnA group for those that wanted to help but didn't have the means to really take an active role as much as the others.

Team GnA was a huge success and continues to be.  As we prepared for the Block Party show, we tried to involve the team as much as possible, and they really stepped up to the plate and exceeded every one of our expectations.  They helped us promote and get people excited for the show, they collaborated with one another, and they even helped hand out swag during the show itself.

The day of the show was pretty exhausting, but was extremely fun.  I work up at EMC in Draper and my shift ends at 5pm, which meant that I put the "rush" in "rush hour" to get to  Sam's house by 5:30, giving us enough time to run through our set and pack our gear before leaving for the show.  And then it started to rain....hard.

Hoping for the best, we loaded up our gear--which was a lot easier than past shows because Jason was able to borrow his in-laws' large van to haul our equipment without getting it all wet--and drove to Provo.  I admit that I began to panic slightly when I saw that the Alpine Village courtyard, where the show was to take place, was empty.  However, we soon found out that the show had been moved inside of Me Crepes, where they had a mid-sized venue.

I actually preferred the show being inside, mainly because the acoustics of the room helped us to hear ourselves a bit better, but also because we would be able to play more to our lighting effects.  Before we went onstage, members of Team GnA handed out neon green glowstick bracelets, and we switched the lighting in the drum head to be a matching green.  As soon as our first song of the night, entitled "How to Control Me," began to play, the lighting was switched to change according to the music.

Overall it was an extremely fun show to play.  The room was filled with energetic fans that sang along to our songs and danced to the music, and we were even able to perform a song that we had written only days before entitled "Dare to Dream," which was such a hit that we plan on playing it at the semi-finals of the Rock the River competition.



We did have our share of snags as well that night, but it still worked out great, all things considered.  We realized when we arrived that the venue did not provide enough cables nor sufficient AC jacks for our instruments, but we were able to eventually get things sorted and ready to go.  Also, most probably don't know this, but Mike--our lead guitarist--was actually very ill the night of our show, and yet he didn't let it show at all during the performance, which makes him a hero in my book.

So, long story short, the Provo Block Party II show was insanely fun to play, and I think our fans had almost as much fun as we did that night.  I am so excited to hit our next show, and even more excited to get into the recording studio in a couple of months to lay down our new tracks so that we can release our new music by the end of the year.

Richfield Roadtrip

Last Saturday, my band Goodnight Annabelle had the unique opportunity to play at a benefit show in Richfield, Utah.  The show was to assist Jaren Barney, a young man who was recently diagnosed with a rare liver disease very shortly after receiving an LDS mission call.

This show was a very neat experience, as it allowed the band to revisit its roots, with Richfield being only minutes away from Annabelle, the small town from which the band got its name.  Although I didn't know anybody down there, it was still nice to be a part of the reunion.

The band met up around 1pm to pack up to leave for the show.  This show was to be different from others that we have played, namely because we would essentially be constructing the stage using our own PA equipment.  We packed up everything that we had, including a tiny PA system that I had purchased over six years ago, which we were able to use as monitors for the stage.

It took several vehicles for us to make it down there, and I rode down with Jason--the band's keyboardist--and his wife Aubrey.  It was a fun ride, with Jason and I being able to discuss several musical ideas and concepts along the way.  Byron and Sam, who also rode together, had an equally productive journey, having brainstormed quite a bit about different logo and band image concepts that we were able to discuss after the show.

It took much longer than expected to prepare the stage, but had a lot of help from the other band that shared the stage with us, Chasing Chance.  We combined equipment and were able to daisy-chain the amps to create a very full, dual-channel sound to fill the area...which was a good thing because we had to compete against a pretty strong wind.

First on the stage was Shay Markham, a seventeen-year-old musician from Provo.  This was her first large gig, but she did amazing and everyone was extremely impressed.  Even with the wind blowing in her face, she was able to do a wonderful job on all of her songs.

Next on stage was Chasing Chance, a band whose members were friends with members from my band.  This band was just recently formed, all of its members having recently returned from LDS missions, but they blew me away at how talented they were.  They put on a spectacular show and I was sad to see it end.

Finally our time had come and we were able to take the stage.  We played a full set of about eight songs, beginning--as has been the recent tradition--with our new song "How To Control Me," which is always a fun song with which to begin a show, as it brings a lot of energy with it.

We also had the chance to invite Shay back on stage to sing our original "Fight What They Say" with us, which turned out great, as you can see in the currently-unreleased video below:



We ended our set with tow of our most popular songs, "Stay" and "Memorable," which can both be found on our newest EP called "Just a Memory" and had some great crowd participation.  We love ending our sets with "Memorable," which has become another GNA tradition, and it definitely did not disappoint that night either.



Even though it was such a long drive to and from the event, and despite all of the heavy lifting and time that it took to set up and tear down the stage, it was still a very fun show and it was great to know that we were helping out and contributing to the best of our abilities to such a wonderful cause.

The Guest Star

Well, in about ten minutes I will be leaving to play a show that is unlike any other that I've played: We will be traveling down to Richfield, UT, to play in a benefit show for Jaren Barney, a young man who was recently diagnosed with a rare liver disease very soon after receiving a mission call.

Although I've played several benefit shows, this will be the first in which we will have a guest performer singing with the band.  This past Wednesday, we asked Shay Markham (who will also be performing that night) to join us at band practice so that she could sing along with Sam at the show during one of our songs.



Shay is extremely talented and I am very excited for tonight!  It is going to be such a fun show, and for such a worthy cause!

Rocking the Riverwoods (Musical Rebound)

After my old band Formerly So broke up in early 2011, I wondered if I would ever have the chance to play in a music group again.  Music has always been a huge part of my life, and I loved the time that I spent playing in bands.  As I have mentioned several times before in past blog posts, I find that music and performing in shows is my "out," where I can completely be myself.

After the band broke up, my friend--and Formerly So's vocalist Brayden Green--and I got together with his cousin Andrew in an attempt to write some music and perhaps one day be able to perform again.  Shortly after, Jason Stapleton, Formerly So's old keyboardist and one of my best friends, returned from an LDS mission to Romania and he joined us in music writing.

Unfortunately, the dream never came to fruition as schedules and other conflicts got in the way of being able to accomplish much in terms of music, and the project coasted to a stop.

I continued to play my bass and acoustic guitar to my iPod by myself, not wanting to give up the talent completely, and met together with Jason a few times after work (both of us working as web developers at a web hosting company in Orem).  I even kept an eye on CraigsList, hoping to find another musical opportunity that I could join in on.

That day eventually came when I saw an ad for a band that I had heard of called Goodnight Annabelle, who was in need of a bassist.  I contacted them via email, and immediately bought all three of their albums on iTunes and learned to play most of the songs.

I heard back from the band about a month later, and they asked me if I would like to audition with them.  While speaking with Byron, the guitarist, he also asked if I knew anyone who knew how to play the keyboards, as they were looking to find a keyboardist as well.  Lucky for him, I happened to be sitting in the cubicle next to Jason at the time, who was more than excited at the chance to practice with them.  We auditioned together that very night, and became the newest members of the band.

I was so lucky to find such an awesome band, and one that is already so well established and has such a large fanbase.  The members of the band are great people and so much fun to spend time with, and we have accomplished a lot together in the short time that Jason and I have been with them.

One of those accomplishments took place last Saturday, when we were able to participate in the Rock the River 2012 Battle of the Bands.  The competition, which is still underway until the end of July, took place at the gazebo in front of the Tucanos restaurant in Provo, UT.

This was a competition unlike any that I have experienced.  I have participated in several Battle of the Band competitions in the past few years, Formerly So even placing first in the College of Eastern Utah Battle of the Bands competition a few years ago, but this was the first contest that actually had a panel of celebrity judges that would watch and critique each band's performance.

The judges of our wave of the competition were Chunga from 101.9 The Edge, Amy from The Whits, and Ryan Innes as the guest judge.  Hearing the rather blunt comments and critiques from the judges on the two bands that played previous to us, we were more than a bit nervous to hit the stage.  However, when we took the stage and were greeted by so many cheers of fans that came from all over, our fear melted away and soon became one of the most memorable shows that I have ever played in my life.

We were utterly amazed at how many people came to see us...especially those that came for the band in general just as fans, having no connection to any one member of the band (i.e. family member, friend, etc.).  In fact, we even had the opportunity to hang out with several of the fans before and after the show, which was a super cool experience.

After our set and some deliberation from the judges, we were shocked to find that we were announced the winners of this wave of the competition.  While we were given some constructive criticism from the judges that we all took to heart, they were very impressed with our music and genuinely seemed to believe that we have a bright future with our band.

After the competition had ended for the night, we were actually able to hang out with the judges for a little while, and were given some great advice on how to improve as a band on many different levels.  The advice was priceless, and we have been working on everything they told us from that point forward, and are very pleased with the changes.  The judges were really great people.

This has been such an awesome experience for me to be playing in a band again, and especially to have found the perfect band for me: one in which each member has become one of my closest friends, where I am able to play in the same band as my pal Jason, where everyone is equally motivated in moving the band forward, and where I truly see myself going places musically.

I can't wait to see what my musical future has in store for me.

My Sister's Big Day

On May 3rd, 2012, my sister Stephanie was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple to the love of her life, Shaun Marsh.

We left home, a bit worried that we would make it to the ceremony on time, as there was a major accident on the freeway on the route we were planning to take.  However, we were able to take an alternate route that got us to our destination surprisingly quick.

This day was a completely new experience for me for several reasons.  First, I had never stepped foot inside of the Salt Lake Temple, and was immediately impressed with the historic and sacred building.  Second, although I had previously attended a sealing ceremony in which an adopted child was sealed to his parents, I had never attended a temple marriage.

It was such an incredible experience.  My dad's cousin, Ken Brailsford, who recently returned from being a mission president, was able to perform the ceremony, and did a fantastic job.  I am very impressed with how he performed and don't think anyone could have done a better job.

Although the day was incredibly long, with several hours of watching the photographer take picture after picture, followed by the reception that night, it was so wonderful to see a couple that was so utterly in love one with another, and to be witness to the happiness that they were experiencing and would continue to experience.

I am so proud of my sister.  I find myself being incredibly jealous of Shaun, because he was able to find such a wonderful young woman to be his wife.  Steph has always been an example to me and, although she is my younger sister, I have always looked up to her throughout my entire life.  She is such a wonderful and caring person, and Shaun is lucky to be her eternal companion.

I am also very happy that Steph was able to find such a great person like Shaun.  Although it has been a somewhat short time since I first met him, I feel like we are best friends, and have no doubt in my mind that he will treat Steph like a princess and be the best husband that he can be to her.  He is a great guy and is also a great example for me.

As I continue in my life, I only hope that I can find someone to become my wife and eternal companion who will make me as happy as these two are, and that I will be able to return the favor in full.


My Facebook album for the wedding day with additional photos can be viewed here.

Anatomy of a Phishing Scam

As my Information Technology major in school has a concentration in network security, I have been learning a lot--especially lately--about the variety of tactics that hackers will use to compromise our networks, gain our usernames and passwords, and even steal our digital identities.

Also, as I work at a web design company and am now fluent and certified in HTML and CSS, two basic web programming languages, and have a general understanding of other languages as well, it has inspired me to take a closer look at the scams and "hacks" that we see--and often disregard--on a daily basis.

In this article, I will take a closer look and analyze three types of attacks:  A Facebook "hack," a mobile SMS (text message) scam, and the classic email scam.

The Facebook "Hack"

Everyone has seen what is commonly referred to as a "Facebook hack" or scam, and most people have grown wise enough to disregard them without a second thought.  These "hacks" can often be easy to recognize, as they are usually mass-distributed messages from your Facebook friends whose accounts have already been compromised, requesting that you visit some obscure URL (web address) to see an "outrageous video" or obtain some sort of special offer.

If these messages are uncharacteristic of the friend, such as a message to check out a viral video of a schoolgirl pole dancing in her dorm room when you know that the friend is devoutly religious and would never post such a thing, it should immediately raise a red flag in your head that the post is not legitimate.

However, sometimes mere curiosity or a cleverly worded scam might fool someone into clicking the link.  The screenshot below is of a scam post that was posted one of my friend's wall.  The post was published by one of his trusted friends, most definitely without their knowledge.

So, if someone posts something like this on your wall, or you notice it in Facebook's News Feed, how do you know whether or not it is legitimate or if it is indeed a scam?  Well, there are a few warning signs to look out for.

First of all, read the message in the screenshot above, and then ask yourself, "Is this how my friend actually talks?"  In this case, I don't actually know the person who left the message on my friend's wall, but I can clearly tell by reading it that it sounds more suitable to being spoken by a used car salesman and not somebody whose profile picture is of him on a walk with his daughter.

Second, I see the link to a URL that I don't recognize.  If it was a link to YouTube or CNN or another website that I had heard of, I would probably click on it without any question.  But if it is a site like the one above, I myself would be a bit skeptical about where it might take me.  Now, maybe this is just me being paranoid, but when it comes to Internet security, I live by the motto "better safe than sorry."

If I encounter a website that I wish to visit that could quite possibly be legitimate, I will oftentimes highlight and copy the URL, open an Incognito window if I am in Chrome (which is done by holding down Ctrl+Shift+N) so that it is not in in a browser window that is already logged into my Facebook account, paste the link in the address bar, and then go to the website.  Also, since I understand HTML and how to read it, if a site looks suspicious to me, I will first view it in its pure source mode by typing "view-source:" (without the quotes) into Chrome's address bar, followed by the URL.  However, this is more of an advanced technique.

The third sign that the post in the above screenshot is suspicious, which is most often a tell-tale sign of a Facebook "hack" is the information next to the timestamp on the post.  In the example above, it says "March 23rd at 1:24am via Check It Out!"  The mere fact that the post was done via some kind of Facebook app tells me that this individual must have clicked on a link that asked them to install an app on their Facebook account.  Before installing an app, you will always receive a notice of what permissions you are giving the app over your account, but most people disregard these warnings and proceed with the installation.  But without reading it, you may be opening the door wide open to your Facebook account to a malicious app and saying "Come on in!"  The app can then post on others' walls in your behalf, as seen above.

Now let's take a deeper look into what this particular post does.  I followed the steps I mentioned in a paragraph above to view the source code of the link, and discovered the following:

The link in the Facebook post actually had a trail of website redirects, meaning that going to that website would simply forward you on to another website, and then another, and then another.  Scammers will use this tactic to have several routes to their malicious trap, in case one or more of the web addresses get flagged as spam links and are blocked or present warnings.

Finally, I was able to trace the redirects to an actual website.  This website had code written to track a visit to the web page and reported the visit back to the Facebook app, in an attempt to "prove" to Facebook that it was a well-traveled page, attempting to fool its anti-spam filters.  After tracking the visit, the website would then promptly redirect the user to the final destination where, in this case, it would offer its free Six Flags passes.

If one were to actually view the website, it would look professional and raise no suspicions in regards to what it offers.  Essentially, it would look like any other website.  But a closer look at the code behind the page would tell a different story.

The first thing I noticed in the code is that it mentioned a number of tickets left, trying to get the visitor to hastily enter their information so that they could claim their ticket before they ran out.  However, the code says differently; the remaining number of tickets is static, meaning that it never changes.

The website would ask the visitor for their information as a way for the ticket to be delivered.  In this way the visitor promptly hands over their name, address, phone number(s), email address(es), and other information, which can be then be used to sell to third-party marketers, meaning that you'll be getting a lot more phone calls during dinner.  If the scammers are smart, they may also ask you to create a username and password, or what you think is a username and password.  Why would they do this?  Well, because many people use the same username and password for several accounts online.

Yesterday I had a friend approach me and have me look at an email that she had received, claiming that her Gmail account was going to be deactivated if she didn't click on a link and enter he login credentials. She did so and nothing happened.  I looked at the email, and noticed some tell-tale signs that it was a scam email that had somehow made it through the filter (but we'll get to email scams later).  After finding out that she had already provided her information to the false website, I asked her if she had another other accounts that used the same login credentials, and she said that her Facebook and even her PayPal account used the same information.  I told her to promptly go through the real channels to change those passwords, but what if she hadn't been warned?  How long would it have taken before her savings account had been emptied via PayPal?

In the Facebook example that I have been citing, I was actually impressed (for lack of a better word) that the scammers even took legality of their actions into consideration with their scam website, providing official Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions pages...essentially "covering their bases."  This is what I found--in the code--when I viewed the Privacy Policy:

Notice how they blatantly say that they will be selling your information to third-party marketers and that you will be receiving special offers via phone calls, emails, etc.  The Terms and Conditions page showed a similar message:

The visitors may say to themselves, however, that "at least there is an unsubscribe button at the button of the page, so I won't receive marketing ploys if I don't want them, right?"  Wrong.  I viewed the source of the Unsubscribe page, and this is what I found:

Essentially, the unsubscribe page shows a form where they can enter their email address to unsubscribe from the offers, but in this case they are literally just going through the motions, because this form is simply an empty shell.  Although it looks like it submits the information, it never actually gets sent anywhere.  In other words, there is no unsubscribe option.

So, as you can see, Facebook "hacks" can have dire consequences, but only if you ignore your common sense and click on things that you probably shouldn't.

Text Message Scams

A few weeks ago, I got a text from an unrecognized number that my Google Voice account (which I love, as it's directly integrated with my Sprint phone) told me was from Washington DC.  The message told me that I had won a $1000 gift card from Walmart and could obtain it by entering a promo code at a certain website.

As crazy as it sounds, I didn't drop everything I was doing and click on the link while popping open a bottle of champagne when I got the message.  In fact, I even showed  it to my family, who said that they'd all received the same text message at different times over the past few days.  In fact, my mom said that she had heard a story on the news, mentioning a disgruntled ex-employee of Walmart that was sending out a phishing scam.  Whether this text is from the same source, I do not know.

I was curious to know what the link actually did so, like with the Facebook hack mentioned above, I used Google Chrome's "view-source" feature to check out the HTML code behind the "offer."  What I found was this:

Instead of routing the user through several domains like with the Facebook hack, this pulled up a page at the direct URL.  From looking at the HTML, it appears that the page displays a form which asks the visitor to input a variety of information to "claim their prize."  This input includes a first name, last name, email address, up to three phone numbers, and even a username and password.  The data is then submitted to a PHP file that is a server-side script that I did not have access to view.  But let's just assume that it doesn't use the data collected to generate a legitimate Walmart gift card and email it to the customer.

So what would happen if someone were to fall into this trap and fill out their information?  Well, first of all, that person would soon become fast friends with Mr. and Mrs. Spam.  Not just email spam, but text message spam as well, and possibly even telemarketing calls and/or scams.  (Is there a difference?)

If the visitor enters a username and password, they are compromising themselves in many ways, mainly because the majority of computer users tend to use the same username and password for several different accounts, as was the case with my friend mentioned in the previous case.

I would sincerely hope that people wouldn't fall into a trap as obvious as this, but if nobody fell for them, then scammers wouldn't take the time to generate false websites, so it definitely makes me wonder how many people were caught in the Walmart Scammer's net.

Spam Emails

Everyone hates spam email, but thanks to sophisticated filters within web-based email services like Gmail and Hotmail, many of us never have to deal with them unless we decide for some reason to go exploring in the Spam or Junk folder.

Another nice feature that has been incorporated into such web-based mail systems is the validation of emails from particular companies to prove their legitimacy, especially financially-related emails such as from banks and PayPal.  Hotmail, for example, will show a green shield next to emails like these.

But phishing scammers still try to catch those that are less vigilant with similar emails.  I have always been a fan of web-based email systems--Gmail in particular--and often wonder how well applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and others detect spam messages.

There are many tell-tale signs that can be used to detect whether or not an email is from a legitimate source.  Let's take the following email that I found in my own spam folder as an example:

The first warning sign, obviously, is the warning message displayed in red by the email system itself, warning the user that the email appears to be malicious in nature.  However, the other signs may be obvious to some yet more subtle to less-experienced users.

The wording of the email itself is at least attempting to sound professional, but for a company as renowned as Chase bank, I would expect something a bit more formal.  Also, if the user wasn't already mentally blinded by panic at having his or her account deactivated, it would be hard not to raise an eyebrow when seeing that the email from Chase Bank was supposedly sent from an email address from a very strange domain, being email.discover.com.  If it was a legitimate email from Chase, wouldn't it come from an email such as abuse@chase.com or something similar?

On a similar note, it is curious that the web link itself is from a strange domain, being fbren.com, as opposed to Chase's actual website.  These are things that I notice in a heartbeat and even laugh about, when others may not even notice in their panicked hurry to reactivate their supposedly canceled account.

Wanting to see where exactly this link would take me, I once again used the "view-source" feature in Chrome to view the HTML behind the so-called "re-activation website."

I noticed that, like the first example in this blog, this website also had an immediate redirect to another website.  However, this website was quite clever in its redirect, if it's not too ironic to say so.  They used an IP address as the domain, as opposed to an actual registered domain name, and then named the subdirectory of the site in such a way that the visitors would perhaps not notice the actual address and believe in its legitimacy.

Curious to know where the attackers originated, I used a simple WHOIS command in my Linux terminal, which gave me all the information I needed to know about the hackers:

It was interesting to note from the information above that the attack was actually originating from a university in China, meaning that some bored students were performing a scam right under their instructors' noses...and doing so from the school computers.

Knowing that this website was obviously a known phishing/scam website, and being very confident in the security of my computer and firewalls, I decided to take the plunge and click on the link--using the "view-source" feature, of course--to see what would happen.  Sure enough, I was immediately presented by a warning sign from Google Chrome, warning me about visiting the website in question.

Viewing the HTML code, it was very clear to me that this was web page that was designed to look identical to a legitimate page provided by Chase, complete with logo and color scheme.  However, when the visitor entered their information, it would be submitted to a PHP file called login, which would most likely execute code to capture the visitor's login information and redirect them to the actual home page of Chase Bank, so as to remove any suspicion.

And thus we see exactly how an email phishing scam works.

Conclusion

Having a strong background in Information Technology, especially in Internet security and web development, I look at all of these attacks and laugh to myself, thinking that there is no way that anyone could ever fall for such a thing.  Yet, as mentioned previously, hackers wouldn't spend so much time meticulously designing these traps unless they had at least enough people fall into them to make it worth the effort, which is highly alarming.

Kevin Mitnick, one of the world's most renowned hackers and--believe it or not--a personal hero of mine because of his vast well of knowledge of the Internet security world, recently said a quote on his Twitter feed that really makes sense with everything that I have mentioned in this post:  "Send a man a phish and he will click on it.  Teach a man to phish and 10,000 people will click on it."

It is shocking that, in such a day and age where computers and technology are so prevalent in our lives that so many people are still ignorant to the risks they take each time they click on their web browser.  But as long as they are vigilant, they need not fall into the traps that lay waiting.

A Silver Medal and a Thumb Drive

Oh the joys of running into your professors while making a pit stop in the restroom at school.

About a month ago, I decided to take advantage of a few minutes between classes to hit the head.  Upon walking inside, I found a friend of mine and one of my old professors, Professor Ormond, having a conversation.  I said a quick hello, and then went about my business.

Listening in, I noticed that Ormond was telling my friend Nathan about the SkillsUSA contest, which is a nationwide contest that recognizes a variety of different technical skills at both high school and post-secondary levels.  Ormond was trying to convince Nathan to sign up for the Web Design portion of the contest, as nobody had entered the competition at the university level, and whoever signed up would automatically be competing in the statewide competition.

After washing my hands (of course) and sliding past them toward the door, Nathan promptly said, "I don't know anything about web design...but Jeff does!"  Ormond's face lit up, and before I knew what was going on, I was being dragged into his office, and was presented with numerous packets of information regarding the competition.  Needless to say, I was about forty-five minutes late for my next class.

The contest involved designing a website from scratch for a client, who would be presenting the company's web design-related dilemma, and we would need to prepare and present a solution.  This content was unique to many of the other IT-related competitions, as it required the participant to work with a partner.

Luckily for me, I work at a web hosting and design company called Marketecture now, at which I design and support websites on a daily basis.  I entered this job, already possessing a pretty solid knowledge of web programming languages such as HTML and CSS, but my company actually paid for all of us to become certified with W3Schools in both languages.

Not only that, but I work with a fellow Utah Valley University student, Travis Harley, who is very skilled when it comes to the design aspect of websites, such as using tools like Photoshop and others to create magnificent-looking designs for clients.  I asked him to be my partner in the competition, and he readily accepted.

Over the subsequent weeks, we prepared vigorously for the competition, studying up on our coding skills and gathering the equipment necessary to participate.  For example, the rules instructed us that we would need to supply a hub or switch with two patch cables, in order to provide communication between our two laptops, which we also had to provide.  I purchased a pretty nice switch on Amazon, but it ended up not making a difference, because the rules changed soon after, allowing us to have a WiFi connection during the competition.

This was a great relief to us, as it meant that we could draw upon the previous sites that we had created in designing the website for the competition itself.

The design portion of the contest took place at 8am on Thursday, March 29th at Salt Lake Community College.  Travis lives in Saratoga Springs, which is on the way to the campus, so we carpooled up there together.  Upon arriving, we were introduced to the client, who explained that he needed a blog site created.  We were told that we just needed to design the home page of the website, depicting how it would be laid out, and not requiring us to create a functioning blog.

We were provided with some images from the company to use on the website, and commenced our work about an hour later.  We immediately put our heads together to decide on a layout and wireframe of the website itself, which I drew out on a notebook that I had brought with me.  I then began the coding of the actual site from scratch, using Microsoft's Web Expression 4 software, while Travis worked with Photoshop to design the background and banner images.

We worked extremely hard, continually modifying our designs to accommodate new ideas and concepts, and by the end of our time limit had a very professional website designed, complete with a JavaScript-powered animated main navigation menu, and an image rotator as the banner, which is Travis' specialty.

In essence, I was very proud of our work.  When our time drew to a close, we placed the website on a thumb drive and copied it to the presentation laptop.  We were then told to report the next day at the same time to present to the client, along with some other professionals in the web design field.

The presentation actually went quite well.  Travis explained his reasoning behind the color scheme and designs that he chose, taking the role of web designer, while I assumed the role of web developer and described the coding behind the project.  I also displayed the code itself, which I was very proud of, having placed many comments and indentations to make it very readable and understandable to any outsider.

Later that night was the award ceremony.  We sat in an auditorium filled with people from high schools, colleges, and universities all over the state of Utah.  At long last, our division was called, and we waited with bated breath to hear what our ranking would be.

To our surprise, we took second place in the competition, which to me was a tremendous accomplishment.  We stood on a podium not unlike those used during the Olympics, and were presented with silver medals.  We were then directed backstage, where we were presented with......a thumb drive.

Apparently each division had its own sponsor, and ours was Adobe.  They had a prize, which was any Adobe software package of the winner's choice, but only for those that placed first.  But, although I didn't receive any free software, I was still extremely grateful for the work that I had done, and felt very proud of our accomplishment.  If nothing else, it proved that I was able to take a task that, at first, sounded impossible, or at least extremely daunting, and follow through with it until the end.

Overall, it was a great experience, and I'm glad that I was able to be a part of it.

New Beginnings [...And Haters]

Well, life has pretty must been speeding past, and I've barely had enough time to breathe, let alone continue to add blog posts...especially since there probably aren't many who even read them, if anyone at all.  But, basically I began this blog to essentially give me another output medium for my thoughts, if nothing else as a way to keep my sanity and put my thoughts and feelings into words.

I have been thinking about the point of keeping a blog, and remembered the original reason for starting this blog, which can be found by clicking here.  So, since I'm getting very tempted to read the book Feed by Mira Grant again, and I know that it will give me the kick in the pants I need to start writing here again, I might as well start now.  That....and I can't sleep.

So, I'm hoping that I can start writing again, giving brief updates of my life, some music-related, and others that are not.  I want this blog to be another way for me to express myself, as doing so through music has been put on hiatus since the break-up of my band Formerly So (which I will talk more about later).  So tonight's post will be about an incident that I would like to mention involving the band, mainly because it is already past 2am and I don't want to be up much longer.

As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, my band Formerly So officially disbanded in May of 2011, which is foreshadowed by some of my blog posts around that time.  However, I don't think that I ever mentioned the disbandment on this blog, although I did on Facebook, Myspace, the band's official blog, and all of the other media used with the band to notify our fans, in the form of an official Press Release.

Here is an actual copy of the press release, as it was posted on Facebook:

Although the band may not have split up under the best of terms (the full explanation would require much more time to describe than I want to spend tonight), I still consider myself to be friends with every member of the band, albeit I haven't communicated with two of the members in quite some time, outside of the occasional Facebook "like" or comment.

In fact, not too long after the band broke up, I actually got together with Brayden (the vocalist) and his cousin Andrew (who was Formerly So's rhythm guitarist for a short time before we found Tim) and attempted to begin a new project.  We wrote a couple of songs, and even laid down a the guitar and bass tracks in ProTools on Andrew's MacBook.  Jason Stapleton, Formerly So's keyboardist--who had since returned from his mission to Romania and which whom I currently work--also stepped in for a time to make some music with us.

Unfortunately, the new project never really got off the ground, mainly because of schedule conflicts and the lack of a drummer, which slowed the motivation.  So, once again, I was without a means to play my bass, except by myself to my dog or along with iTunes.

I have thought often about doing some kind of solo project, especially now that I have a Mac Mini with 8GB of RAM and GarageBand, but that hasn't happened yet.  But, musically related, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I have recently jammed with Jason, in an attempt  to work on some more piano-and-bass driven songs that we could hopefully perform.  It is extremely fun to jam with Jason, as he is one of my closest friends, and we have written some pretty sweet stuff together.

I also will be trying out with a really good band called Goodnight Annabelle in about two weeks, for which I am super excited.  They are a great band, their members seem extremely friendly and chill, and I am very impressed with the music they have already written.  There is also another musician with whom I've been in contact, who wants to get together and see if I want to jam with them and possibly start a project.  So there is still potential for me to reintroduce myself to the music scene.

But now for the whole reason that I decided to write a post tonight.  As I mentioned, I am still in contact with both Brayden and Jason, but have also been in contact with Adam and Tim, if only via texts, Facebook, and other technological means.  Today, for example, Tim texted me and asked if I still had administrator rights to the Formerly So YouTube channel, which of course I do.  He informed me that some Internet troll had posted some pretty nasty comments on a couple of our YouTube videos, and to see if I could remove them.

Today was the Priesthood session of General Conference, so once I was home and able to sit down at my computer, I checked out these comments:

As you can see, this person decided to attack the band because of the number of views that the videos had received.  One post was on our official music video, and the other was on the video posted by Utah Music Scene, where we were interviewed at the Salt Lake City venue Club Vegas.

Due to YouTube's new layout, it is much more difficult to remove posts, even if they are on your own videos.  I immediately changed the music video's settings to allow comments only by the owner's approval, and marked the comment to be removed and to block the user.

I even sent a private message to the poster, as I was so confused by why he would randomly attack my band, saying the following:

Hey man,
I just noticed your comments on a couple of our videos, and I'm wondering what would cause you to say all of that. Looking at your previous comments on your channel, it looks like you singled out this band for all of your hate comments and trolling, when I really don't see a reason.
Yeah, we didn't a ton of views on our video, but who cares? We were a local band, and were doing what we could to make it in an industry overflowing with local music. On top of that, we were a bunch of friends, getting together to do what we loved: making music and performing. If that's a sin, then put me down as a sinner.
So, clearly you have some kind of beef with the band, but either didn't do 30 seconds of research enough to find out that it had disbanded about a year ago, or hold a grudge on behalf of a member of the band due to reasons that you completely do not understand.
Regardless, your comments were childish and there was no reason for them. If you don't like the music, move on to another song from another band, it's as easy as that.
But the fact of the matter is that, despite the band not growing in its fanbase and disbanding due to reasons that you are not privvy to knowing, we produced some music that every member of the band is incredibly proud of, and we see it as a great accomplishment.
So, I would appreciate it if you would keep those ill-informed comments to yourself, and focus your efforts on something more worthy than attempting to demean a band that has parted ways such a long time ago.
If you really want to continue acting this way, then be a man and talk about it to us personally. I welcome your response: send it to formerlysoband@gmail.com and, assuming it's more than belligerent hate and prejudice, I promise to take the time to thoughtfully write out a response to any question you may have.
Thanks.- Jeff

I posted the same message as a comment on his actual channel as well, as I noticed that somebody else had commented on it after being bashed by him for some stupid reason.  Also, because the second comment (which appears in the screenshot above) was on a video not uploaded by me, I wasn't able to remove the comment, but instead posted the same message above in the form of a reply to his comment.  I believe that the reply was frank, yet professional in the sense that I didn't result to vulgarity or name-calling, so if anyone is to read it, they will see that he truly is a troll, and hopefully believe that it was handled well on our part.

I sent Tim the message via Facebook, but he replied back several hours after I had removed the comment, and told me that it was still visible, so he didn't know if it just took time to remove, or if there was more I needed to do.  I tried several things, including marking the comment as spam with several accounts and replying with a shorter version of the above message (just in case). I'm not sure what exactly I did to solve the issue, but the comment is now gone from our music video's page.  It shows my reply and has a link to show the original comment, but when clicked on, an error message displays, saying that the original message has been removed.

In closing, I don't understand why people decide to bash others for really no reason.  The comment on the music video page said something along the lines of "since this band only has X amount of views in a year's time and other mediocre bands have tons more, they should think they're a great band," whereas the comment in the screenshot above goes on to claim the reason why our band didn't succeed, which--for the record--is definitely incorrect, as we were successful and could have continued on to have a bigger fan base and more success, had other obstacles not hindered us.

Anyway, I don't know if one of the band members was disgruntled and was complaining about the band to someone, who went on to "help" by placing those comments, but I don't believe that could be the case, because it made all members of the band equally look bad.  I'm guessing it was just some Internet troll, who was just hate-filled and wanting to cause a stir.  Basically, being the quintessential Internet troll that everyone knows and hates, that CollegeHumor depicted so well in this video: