Monthly Archives: June 2013

Music

It is a disgrace that Sasha Allen didn’t make the Voice Finals

Sasha Allen was clearly the best vocalist and performer on the Voice this season.  Maybe the show needs to stop multiplying the I-Tunes votes by 10 for those who make the pop top 10.  The vote is clearly skewed to the young people who vote as a popularity contest rather than whether someone can sing — on key — with range — and feeling.

Programming

De-obfuscate a backdoor PHP script

See this post:

Versatile Programmer’s Diary

This:  ‘\x63\x72\x65\x61\x74\x65\x5f\x66\x75\x6e\x63\x74\x69\x6f\x6e’ is hex encoded “create_function” string. This is a PHP function that creates a function dynamically from a string.  This is a backdoor.  What can it do, for example?

  • It can upload arbitrary files
  • It can execute mysql queries
  • Its can shell command

Others have detected the following as a Trojan function.

‘function letmein() {die’

Health

Spring Hill couple inspires research into coconut oil for Alzheimer’s patients

Story by Jodie Tillman, Staff Writer for the Tampa Bay Times

See Article:  http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/spring-hill-couple-inspires-research-into-coconut-oil-for-alzheimers/2124596

According to this Article:

Researchers at the University of South Florida’s Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute recently received a $250,000 grant from a private foundation to conduct what is thought to be the first clinical trial of the effects of coconut oil on mild to moderate cases of Alzheimer’s disease.

“One hallmark of Alzheimer’s is that some parts of the brain stop processing glucose, the primary source of energy. What could plug that fuel gap and keep the brain cells alive? One theory: ketones.”

“In 2008, she [Dr. Mary Newport] read a report on a small study of a new medicinal drink. The brew’s key ingredient is a type of fat known as a medium chain triglyceride. The liver converts part of those fats into an energy source called ketones.”

“At that time, the medicinal drink in the study had not yet hit the market. Dr. Newport learned that nonhydrogenated coconut oil is made up mostly of medium-chain triglycerides. She bought a jar of coconut oil and started spooning it into her husband’s [Steve’s] oatmeal.”

“She [Dr. Mary Newport] says she started seeing results within days. Steve improved his score on an exam used to screen for dementia. His drawings of clock faces — an important test for Alzheimer’s progression — improved. His tremors subsided. He could engage with others.”