Saturday, June 28, 2008

Death of 4 Young Boys is Sad News

I read tonight about the death of 4 young boys, two of them only 10 and 11, killed in a horror smash in Western Australia that raised goosebumps all over me.

It won't be long and my own kids will be old enough to drive, Carly will be 16 at Christmas, and the thought of them being killed in a car accident is enough to give anyone the heebie jeebies. My heart goes out to the mother of 3 of those killed. Can you imagine losing 3 children at the one time? I don't even want to think about it.

It's funny, there's so many sad stories from around the world, but it's those closest to home that affect me the most.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Jail Sentence for Hacker

Great news...

A hacker who hijacked hundreds of PCs to create a botnet has been sentenced to 41 months in jail by a US court.

Robert Matthew Bentley of Panama City, Florida also faces $65,000 (£33,000) in fines and will be under supervision for three years on his release.

The hijacked PCs were used to attack other computers and install programs that plagued users with pop-up adverts.

He was caught following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Computer Crime Unit (CCU).

A botnet is a collection of computers under the remote control of a malicious hacker who then uses them for their own purposes. Most spam or junk e-mail is thought to be routed through hijacked PCs.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Blogging Has Therapeutic Benefits

Scientific American reports that the therapeutic value of blogging has becomes a focus of study. I always knew there was a reason I have an urge to blog.


Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

I've read lots of blogs where the writer is letting off steam about something. I do it myself on occasion, and it feels good, and to know there is a medical explanation makes it feel even better. I don't find myself thinking about blog posts often these days but in my early days of blogging I used to want to blog about everything I read or heard and would find myself mentally composing posts. Apparently some hospitals have started hosting patient-authored blogs on their web sites as clinicians begin to recognise the therapeutic value of blogging. Unlike a bedside journal, blogging offers the added benefit of receptive readers in similar situations.


If it works, why not? I read a very touching blog recently about a little girl who has been diagnosed with leukemia called Lifting Up Serenity. I've been back several times to see how the girl and her family are coping and I think that writing about it is probably very therapeutic for the parents. I even feel quite close to this family and although I don't know them I can share their pain and their triumphs.

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