Nickie

Your Hotmail is H@cK3d

There seems to be an epidemic going on. I'm getting spam email from friends linking me to websites on v1agra, s3x enhancements, and all sorts of other spam worthy products. In the past week or two, I have seen 3 Hotmail accounts from friends get hacked. The final straw was one night when I was at my desk - Julia was in bed and I got a mass spam email from her Hotmail account (freshly hacked)!

This is not the first time I have seen Hotmail accounts get compromised so someone can send out link spam to the entire address book. Is the problem the security of the Hotmail account itself, or is it the lack of security precautions taken by Hotmail users?

I have never liked Hotmail as an email service, as I have known it to be unreliable at times and very easy to compromise. Take, for example, the "forgot password" security questions they offer in case you forget your password. They tend to be very simple questions like "What was the name of your first pet?". So even though you have a very beefy secure password of "hWbkj5@g", it is easy for someone to figure out that "Rover" is the answer to your security question - and thus gain access to your account through the backdoor (so to speak).

Someone who knows you well but has malicious intent may easily be able to figure out your first pet's name, and thus gain access to your account - even though your password is uber secure! Another possibility is that a hacker with intent to send out link spam to your entire address book can easily program a script that will try thousands of possible pet names, quite possibly coming up with yours. In reality, how difficult are the pet names we usually choose?

One of the better options, if it is offered by your service, is to allow the password reset instructions to be text messaged to your cellular phone. You are usually the only person carrying your cell phone, and if someone does try to hack your account - you will know becuase you are getting the text messages. (gmail offers this)

This largely seems to be a problem with Hotmail. I rarely, if ever, get spam link emails sent to someone's entire address book from friends on Gmail, Yahoo, or any other email service. I know it is hard to change your email address, but if you are using Hotmail - I'd highly recommend switching to another service.

Joburg

Spent our last night and day in Joburg by going out to dinner at a
trendy restaurant and then doing a Soweto tour the next day before
having to depart.

We went to dinner at a place called Moyo in the Melrose Arch area of
Joburg. It's a really lively and happening area of the city and safe
to walk around in. There are many restaurants and bars to chill out
and relax, and to see and be seen. Moyo tried to present a modern
African feel, and the menu served traditional dishes in an upscale
manner. There was live African music, although maybe a little too loud
for the dinner going crowd. It was a great, quick experience of
"modern Africa".

Our Soweto tour (meaning Southwestern Townships) was interesting,
although spoiled by a bad tour guide. I'm actually complaining to the
company and trying to get a refund. Anyway, Soweto is where black
people were moved under Apartheid to keep them out of the city center.
It is a huge area, consisting of multiple townships and 3-5 million
residents. We vistited the Hector Pieterson Museum, named after a boy
who was killed in the student uprising in Soweto on June 16, 1976.
That museum was fascinating and gave a real glimpse into life in
Sowento under Apartheid and the beginning of the civil rights movement
in South Africa. Highly recommended!

Today, people still live in Sowento and a community is thriving. I got
the impression it was a badge of honor and a symbol of solidarity for
people to continue to live there. There is a thriving middle class a d
conditions have improved tremendously there since the end of Apartheid.

About to board the plane back to SF. I have a splitting headache and
am a little irritable. Things move slow in Africa and are sometimes
absurds, but I'm trying my best not to blow a gasket at someone right
now - at least until I get home.

Next Post: Trip wrap up and thoughts on travelling in Africa.

Kruger

Spent 2 nights in Kruger National Park, South Africa. It is a very
large park with well established roads, campsites, picnic areas,
shops, and of course - the good animal population. Its a very nice
park - a jewel. We drove through Limpopo Park in Mozambique to get to
Kruger as they border each other based on the political boundary
between the two countries.

It is great to be in South Africa again: good roads, good doctors
(with quick malaria tests I found), toilets, solid currency, hot
showers, fresh water, etc.

I wish we could have spent more time in Kruger, as it is vast.
Unfortunately we werent able to do it justice, but glad we got there
and experienced it. A highlight for us there was a few more elephant
encounters and an encounter with a pack of hyena!

Spending a day in Johannesburg before heading back to the USA. Got
enough time for a Sowento township tour, and we are hopefully reunited
with our Aussie friends. John is still weak, but out of the hospital.
He has to stay in SA for another week before he is "fit to fly".
Edwina is doing great, just has some serious cabin fever.

Tofo and Bilene

Our final days in Mozambique were a bit of a bust because of rain. The
coastal town of Tofo is a fun, tourist friendly town with a beautiful
beach. We had hoped to go snorkeling at the off shore estuary or go
diving with whale sharks & manta rays, but the bad weather prevented
it. There was a good craft market to browse though in the little
center of town.

During our last night in Tofo, I came down with some sort of African
jungle fever (& I don't mean the Spike Lee kind). It was like the flu,
but lacked symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing or sore throat. It
was headache, fever, hot/cold chills, fatigue, spaciness and terrible,
terrible joint aching. I feared I had caught Malaria since another
member of our group went out with it earlier in the tour despite
taking meds. I was sick for 2 days and went to a doctor once back in
South Africa, who tested me for Malaria and confirmed I was negative.
The doctor thought it was just the flu perhaps, which was a relief as
Malaria requires a hospital stay. Of course, I felt better on the 3rd
day. I've never had an illness come on so fast, debilitate me, and
then just go away without a trace. I missed seeing the lagoon around
Bilene as a result, but it was raining most of the time so water
activities were not possible.

I still wish I knew exactly what made me sick. (?????) All better now
though (whew)

Next stop: Kruger Park, South Africa.