Oops.

I’ve maintained for some time that Microsoft has programs that fit on bootable USB sticks and allow law enforcement to override your Microsoft Bitlocker, Encrypted File System (EFS), and password data, and gather all your private information to use against you later in a criminal trial.

That system is called COFEE, for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor. (Microsoft page about it here)

It has been known for some time that Microsoft has backdoored Windows for the US government, when Microsoft got careless and forgot to obscure a cryptographic signing key given to the NSA back in 1998. (The backdoor is still there, just obscured now), but people don’t tend to believe me about COFEE.

If you use Microsoft Bitlocker or EFS, you’re wasting your time, because Microsoft gives these devices out to law enforcement on down to your local police department. If the police get a warrant and seize your machine, and you’re using Bitlocker or EFS, you’ve essentially just handed them the evidence and the only difference the “Microsoft security” will make is that it might cost the cops an extra 2 minutes to boot off the COFEE key and unlock your hard drive.

COFEE was recently leaked onto the web, and Microsoft has been sending cease and desist orders, but COFEE is still on a lot of bittorrent sites if you would like to try it out for yourself.

While I’m at it:

Many Linux distributions offer /home folder + SWAP encryption or (even better), whole disk encryption. And I doubt the people behind those projects are pissing on you and telling you it’s raining, like Microsoft has when it tell you that Bitlocker and EFS are trustworthy and proceeds to sell an instant workaround and evidence collector to the police.

Cryptome posts Microsoft’s COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) and COFEE User Guide – receives take-down demand.

Click image

Falsch, das ist kein Tippfehler.  Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor  nennt sich dieses spassige Tool aus der Softwareschmiede des Bill “Billy” Gates. Entwickelt für Ermittler braucht man sich Cofee nur auf einen USP- Stick laden, diesen in einen fremden Rechner einführen und dann wird der PC mal locker durchgescannt.

Abgesehen davon, dass ich hier auch die Frage nach Datenschutz und Bürgerrechten stelle, Microsoft hat Unmengen solcher USB- Sticks in alle Welt verschenkt und, wen wundert es, seit einigen Tagen kann manx sich Cofee auf Tauschbörsen herunterladen. Zwar hat der Filesharingbeteiber, den Download geblockt, denn mit Geheimdiensten wollte man sich dann doch nicht anlegen. Aber hier zählt der alte Spruch:

Was einmal im Netz ist bleibt da auch. Und das ist auch gut so!

Ich rate aber dringend davon ab, sich Cofee zu downloaden. Ich halte erstens wenig von Spionage und es klappt ohnehin nur bei XP- Rechnern. Ausserdem können sich in diesem umfassenden Werk Programme verstecken, die Euren Rechner hacken. Also lieber die Finger davon lassen! Moin!

DON´T PANIC

So COFEE has finally been leaked onto the Internet. It was inevitable and it’s a wonder that it wasn’t released sooner, but nevertheless it marks a sad day for the Law Enforcement computer forensics community. COFEE, if you didn’t know, is Microsoft’s LE-only collection of tools for getting volatile data from a live computer. It stands for ‘Laboured Twee Acronym’. It’s not particularly exciting or special or cool, it’s just a handful of tools, all of which are freely available in one form or another, bundled up so that they run nicely from a USB stick. Nothing to see here, please move along.

So why the long face, as the horse said to the Easter Island monolith? It’s the lolz. It’s all about the lolz, and a decrease thereof. Every so often COFEE is mentioned on a geek-news site like The Register or Slashdot, and whenever this happens, the comments come alive with a thousand angry, confused, wounded monkeys, all in an uproar about the existence of this pernicious tool. Whenever the subject’s been raised among colleagues in the LE forensics community, it’s been a source of mild amusement – this torrent of, for the most part, pompous and ill-informed folk riding a wave of their own indignant foamy spit. All this will be lost, like dribble in the rain, now that they know that COFEE is actually a bit crap.

While pondering this it struck me that there’s an observable taxonomy of Internet folk who respond to any news item on the geek sites about computer forensics. For the elucidation of our species, I give you a breakdown.

The Back-Door Men (BDM)

When COFEE is mentioned, these are the ones who gibber about ‘M$’ leaving backdoors in Windows for cops to sneak into. They disapprove of this, but lay some of the blame with the users themselves – any fool knows that you are only safe from The Man if you run Slackjaw Linux, with a custom-rolled kernel that specifically doesn’t load the ‘gubmint_rootkit’ module.

The Man of Few Words (MoFW)

The MoFW will post a comment of no more than 3 words. MoFW has no time for chit-chat, and will post pithy gems like ‘One word: Truecrypt’ or ‘Cops != hackers’. He’s obviously very busy, as he often seems to have read only the first couple of lines of the article and completely misses the point. I like to picture MoFW as the enemy dude from the Southpark ‘World of Warcraft’ episode:

The Cops Ain’t Shit (TCAS)

This specimen isn’t anti-police per se, but he does think that any police officer trying to do computer forensics is automatically out of their depth. Regardless of how far through an MSc the officer is, or how many years he’s spent churning out technical reports that meet evidential tests beyond a reasonable doubt, in the eyes of the TCAS he’s just a thick bobby fit for nothing but truncheoning hoodies outside the off licence.

TCAS is an expert on the shortcomings of the Police analyst, and will often impart advice such as ‘Just use Firefox – the cops don’t even think to look for it, as they only know about Internet Explorer’. TCAS knows more than anyone thanks to his position as chief tape-changer and ink-swapper at the local shoe recycling company, and will happily  give advice on how the police should have handled the investigation.

The Bitter Paedo (TBP)

An odd one. TBP will often admit to having had trouble with the law, but will never say whether they were charged or convicted. Over the course of a few posts he’ll eventually rant about the indignities of having his house searched by officers from the local paedophile unit, and the unfairness of a system that ‘is itself confused over its attitude to children’.
TBP will leap into the debate like a coked-up goth in a moshpit, flailing at anything that doesn’t duck in time. Favourite targets are CEOP (and Jim Gamble especially), Law Enforcement, lawyers, courts, CPS, that bastard from down the road who did him some unspecified wrong, his ex-wife and the rest of this cruel, unfeeling world. He will often hint at imminent legal actions that will vindicate him and bring the system crashing down, but this never seems to actually happen.
TBP often accuses the police of creating anti-paedophile laws because they don’t have enough people to arrest.

The Amused LE Officer (TALEO)

TALEO seldom appears in the comments threads, preferring to watch and comment amongst their own kind from the relative civilisation of the forensic forums. TALEO generally regards the proceedings with amused aloofness, having seen it all before. When he does appear, it’s usually to deliver a gentle smackdown to TCAS.

Any more? Stick em in the comments!

Ka qene nje nga programet me te kerkuara ne internet deri sa rrodhi pak ore me pare, sot. Dhe tani qe gjendet jashte dhe gjithandej, mund te shkarkohet kollaj nga kushdo qe mund te perdore nje motorr kerkimi. Po, Microsoft COFEE, vegla e forcave policore qe ka bere kurioze shume prej nesh (perfshi Gizmodo~! dhe Ars Technica~!), eshte tashme gati per shkarkim.

Nuk po permendim emra, as pamje nga programi, por te intriguarit mes jush do ta gjejne nese do ta kerkojne. Nuk eshte se do t’ju hyje ne pune per ndonje gje pasi ja si e pershkruan Microsoft programin e saj COFEE, inicialet e se ciles qendrojne per Online Forensic Evidence Extractor:

“Me COFEE, forcat e ligjit qe nuk kane kompjutera me aftesi analizuese ne vendin e krimit, tashme munden kollaj, sakte dhe me kosto efektive te mbledhin te dhenat e rendesishme menjehere. Nje oficer me aftesite minimale te kompjuterit mund te trainohet dhe ne me pak se 10 minuta mund te perdori nje pajisje COFEE. Kjo i jep mundesine oficerit qe te marri te njejtat avantazhe te veglave speciale qe perdorin ekspertet mjeko-ligjore per te mbledhur evidenca, duke mos bere ndonje gje me teper se sa te fusi nje pajisje USB ne kompjuter.”

Per ta permbledhur, ju nuk eshte se do jeni ne gjendje ta perdorni programin. Nuk eshte ndonje gje si Photoshop apo Final Cut Pro, nje program i shtrenjte te cilin po ta zbrisni do beni cudira. Jo, COFEE eshte 100% i panevojshem per ju.

Mgjt, cfare e ben COFEE kaq misterioz dhe te vecante? Arsyeja e vetme eshte sepse ky program nuk ka qene kurre i perhapur publikisht. Njerezit intrigohen jashte mase kur kane ne duar nje gje qe supozohet se nuk duhet ta kene dhe ky efekt magnetizohet on line ku kemi dhomat e chatit apo forumet ne te cilat mbushen me njerez qe entuziasmohen nga ideja qe kane nje program super sekret qe s’duhej ta kishin ne diskun e tyre te ngurte.

Keshtu qe kjo ishte pak a shume; Microsoft COFEE eshte ne qarkullim. Nuk eshte shume i madh per tu shkarkuar, rreth 15 MB. U perpoqa ta mbaja sa me te mistershem kete mini-artikull per t’ju ngacmuar sadopak si dhe per ta paraqitur COFEEn si gjene me fantastike qe ka rrjedhur ndonjehere ne rrjet… deri tani!

Duke qene se shume do ti bini shkurt dhe do te me pyesni se ku gjendet, po ju jap nje link te gatshem /ketu/. Kapeni sa eshte akoma on line dhe FBI apo CIA nuk e kane stakuar linkun…

Depuis maintenant quelques jours, il est possible de se procurer “COFEE”, une clé USB fournie par Microsoft pour les services de police, sur le net.

“COFEE” est une clé USB avec environ 150 outils qui permets de fouiller dans votre PC sous Windows XP, ceci afin de prouver l’illégalité de vos actions, P2P, téléchargement illégal, etc…

“COFEE” génère un rapport HTML à partir des XML générés sur la fameuse clé.

D’une taille de 13.8 Mo, “COFEE” (MICROSOFT.COMPUTER.ONLINE.FORENSIC.EVIDENCE.EXTRACTOR.V1.1.2), se retrouve maintenant sur la toile… Suédoise.

    Microsoft makes the COFEE for some and now everyone can take a sip (actually not a sip but another same COFEE) of it.

   Jokes apart, Microsoft Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor(COFEE) has leaked onto the web (Hot News).

    Microsoft has created Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE), designed exclusively for use by law enforcement agencies. COFEE brings together a number of common digital forensics capabilities into a fast, easy-to-use, automated tool for first responders. It collect digital evidence from suspect’s computers while they are running, without the investigating officer having to do much more than inserting a USB stick.

   We understand the capability of this tool which is for good use. Now it is available for all, some disreputable parties may now have access to this tool which may assist them in their own criminal activities. One more major worry is; what about the bad guys? they can analyze this tool and write their own code to neutralize this tool.

   In the end, this leak of tool online definitely going to make computer cops life more difficult when they try and dash-and-grab data from a suspicious PC.

Armed with Microsoft's USB stick and COFEE even these two will be able to collect evidence from a live system....The courts will love that one.

It is being reported that COFEE, Microsoft’s forensic tool used in the fight against crime [1] has been leaked and uploaded to a BT tracker.  The tracker in question (what.cd) has subsequently removed the offending torrent, probably with visions of dawn raids and court cases, however I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the tools PR and what it (allegedly) offers.  Before we go any further though, its worth noting that the actions taken by what.cd have not managed to preserve the “secrecy” of this Microsoft product.  COFEE is available from thousands of sources online already.

Firstly because its Microsoft you can expect the usual blurb.  Microsoft doesn’t disappoint here with:

If it’s vital to government, it’s mission critical to Microsoft.

Which would beg the question; what happened then when various armed forces computer systems allegedly fell victim to a Windows based exploit?  Doesn’t sound very mission critical to me.

Back to COFEE though (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor) is in essence software and USB solution which enable a live system to be “snapshotted” in situ.  Exactly how this code operates is anyones guess since its only provided to law enforcement and not to the general populus.  Would this software/hardware work on a rig with Linux?  I would highly doubt it and I assume it is developed to “handshake” with a Windows based system in some way.

An officer with even minimal computer experience can be tutored—in less than 10 minutes—to use a pre-configured COFEE device.

…And COFEE is being provided—at no charge—to law enforcement around the world.

So Microsoft gives COFEE away free to law enforcement does it?  Lets remind ourselves of what Bill Gates had to say about “free” some time ago:

They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade

Here you go....a USB stick for every copper! Become an IT expert in 10 minutes! Question is, why should law enforcement use what you can already get (legally) for free and why should the "mighty" Microsoft be giving it away to law enforcement?

Maybe a warning there for Law Enforcement?  “Beware of a Redmond employee bearing gifts”

From reports of users that have looked at this Microsoft GUI its allegedly only a set of data collection tools that can be found on the net anyway and there is nothing “secret” or “cutting edge” to be found in Microsoft’s freebie.

There are other issues I have with this Microsoft freebie and its in respect of evidential value.  In my opinion an in situ dump of a live system will only have real evidential worth in a court if its backed up with the original system.  I would doubt very much if a court would accept a “snapshot” on a USB stick on its own without calling into question the integrity of the data collected on it. [2]

Are we really believing some IT inept officer brandishing COFEE should be allowed to tamper with a live system of possible evidential worth even if she/he has had “a 10 minute training course”..?   I would expect any Law Enforcement Agency to call in its own experts if it encountered a situation where a live exam/retrieval was essential.

Ive often said I have great reservations when the private/public sector mix (in respect of law enforcement) You have to look no further than FACT, where I believe its funded by the very companies it seeks to protect.  No problem in itself, but when (IMO) FACT has the ear of law enforcement, you could be forgiven if you were a little dubious as to the motives of the “advice” they give to the aforementioned agency.

Although it’s a little extreme, when law enforcement and corporate mix, people will always wonder “what goes on behind the scenes” and theories of calls such as “Hi, is that the LAPD?  Its Ballmer here, we have a little trouble at Redmond, can you help us out? Remember we did give you that USB stick all those years ago…..” will always crop up.  It seems strange to me that Microsoft is so keen to help fight crime when in Bill Gates own words (as partly quoted earlier on):

As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours.

You can read that full article here: http://www.cybersource.com.au/press/gates_set_to_addict_next_billion.html

There is a viewpoint from Torrentfreak.com which can be read here.

Notes

[1] Allegedly since Ive never seen Microsoft credited for any successes and its not clear which or if any Law enforcement actually use it

[2] and its all accademic really since someone booting a LiveCD and USB stick combo would be immune to COFEE (IMO)

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

This is the single greatest piece of software piracy ever, I think I love it because it was stolen from law enforcement and nothing is funnier than when a criminal steals the cops car and escapes with it. People are going to reek havoc with this.

This is from Gizmodo and their post can be seen here:

Apparently Microsoft’sCOFEE software that helps law enforcement grab data from password protected or encrypted sources is leaking all over the internet. So not only can you steal the software, but break the law by using it too.

Yep, it’s all out there on the internet, but if you use it to grab private data from someone else’s computer chances are you’re in for a world of legal hurt. It’s one of the few pieces of software I can think of where the subsequent use is more illegal than the act of downloading it.

But I know it’s not the only one. What else can you guys come up with?

God bless bit torrents!

I found this in an old text file, I don’t remember where I got it but it’s pretty cool. Go ahead and check it out.

Peace
Simranjeet Singh
Talk to me ->

Human World

The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth.

When Albert Einstein died, his final words died with him. The nurse at his side didn’t understand German.

St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish.

The lance ceased to be an official battle weapon in the British Army in 1927.

St. John was the only one of the 12 Apostles to die a natural death.

Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could afford a proper burial when they died.

Some very Orthodox Jew refuse to speak Hebrew, believing it to be a language reserved only for the Prophets.

A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.

Born 4 January 1838, General Tom Thumb’s growth slowed at the age of 6 months, at 5 years he was signed to the circus by P.T. Barnum, and at adulthood reached a height of only 1 metre.

Because they had no proper rubbish disposal system, the streets of ancient Mesopotamia became literally knee-deep in rubbish.

The Toltecs, Seventh-century native Mexicans, went into battle with wooden swords so as not to kill their enemies.

China banned the pigtail in 1911 as it was seen as a symbol of feudalism.

The Amayra guides of Bolivia are said to be able to keep pace with a trotting horse for a distance of 100 kilometres.

Sliced bread was patented by a jeweller, Otto Rohwedder, in 1928. He had been working on it for 16 years, having started in 1912.

Before it was stopped by the British, it was the not uncommon for women in some areas of India to choose to be burnt alive on their husband’s funeral pyre.

Ivan the terrible claimed to have ‘deflowered thousands of virgins and butchered a similar number of resulting offspring’.

Before the Second World War, it was considered a sacrilege to even touch an Emperor of Japan.

An American aircraft in Vietnam shot itself down with one of its own missiles.

The Anglo-Saxons believed Friday to be such an unlucky day that they ritually slaughtered any child unfortunate enough to be born on that day.

During the eighteenth century, laws had to be brought in to curb the seemingly insatiable appetite for gin amongst the poor. Their annual intake was as much as five million gallons.

Ancient drinkers warded off the devil by clinking their cups

The Nobel Prize resulted form a late change in the will of Alfred Nobel, who did not want to be remembered after his death as a propagator of violence – he invented dynamite.

The cost of the first pay-toilets installed in England was tuppence.

Pogonophobia is the fear of beards.

In 1647 the English Parliament abolished Christmas.

Mao Rse-Tang, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, was born 26 December 1893. Before his rise to power, he occupied the humble position of Assistant Librarian at the University of Peking.

Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol.

King George III was declared violently insane in 1811, 9 years before he died.

In Ancient Peru, when a woman found an ‘ugly’ potato, it was the custom for her to push it into the face of the nearest man.

For Roman Catholics, 5 January is St Simeon Stylites’ Day. He was a fifth-century hermit who showed his devotion to God by spending literally years sitting on top of a huge flagpole.

When George I became King of England in 1714, his wife did not become Queen. He placed her under house arrest for 32 years.

The richest 10 per cent of the French people are approximately fifty times better off than the poorest 10 per cent.

Henry VII was the only British King to be crowned on the field of battle

During World War One, the future Pope John XXIII was a sergeant in the Italian Army.

Richard II died aged 33 in 1400. A hole was left in the side of his tomb so people could touch his royal head, but 376 years later some took advantage of this and stole his jawbone.

The magic word “Abracadabra” was originally intended for the specific purpose of curing hay fever.

The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas Carols, judging them to be out of keeping with the true spirit of Christmas.

Albert Einstein was once offered the Presidency of Israel. He declined saying he had no head for problems.

Uri Geller, the professional psychic was born on December 20 1946. As to the origin of his alleged powers, Mr Geller maintains that they come from the distant planet of Hoova.

Ralph and Carolyn Cummins had 5 children between 1952 and 1966, all were born on the 20 February.

John D. Rockefeller gave away over US$ 500,000,000 during his lifetime.

Only 1 child in 20 are born on the day predicted by the doctor.

In the 1970’s, the Rhode Island Legislature in the US entertained a proposal that there be a $2 tax on every act of sexual intercourse in the State.

Widows in equatorial Africa actually wear sackcloth and ashes when attending a funeral.

The ‘Hundred Years War’ lasted 116 years.

The British did not release the body of Napoleon Bonaparte to the French until twenty days after his death.

Admiral Lord Nelson was less than 1.6 metres tall.

John Glenn, the American who first orbited the Earth, was showered with 3,529 tonnes of ticker tape when he got back.

Native American Indians used to name their children after the first thing they saw as they left their tepees subsequent to the birth. Hence such strange names as Sitting Bull and Running Water.

Catherine the First of Russia, made a rule that no man was allowed to get drunk at one of her parties before nine o’clock.

Queen Elizabeth I passed a law which forced everyone except for the rich to wear a flat cap on Sundays.

In 1969 the shares of the Australian company ‘Poseidon’ were worth $1, one year later they were worth $280 each.

Julius Caesar wore a laurel wreath to cover the onset of baldness.

Ernest Bevin, Minister of Labour during World War II, left school at the age of eleven.

At the age of 12, Martin Luther King became so depressed he tried committing suicide twice, by jumping out of his bedroom window.

It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary.

The Turk’s consider it considered unlucky to step on a piece of bread.

The authorities do not allow tourists to take pictures of Pygmies in Zambia.

The Dutch in general prefer their french fries with mayonnaise.

Upon the death of F.D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman became the President of America on 12 April 1945. The initial S in the middle of his name doesn’t in fact mean anything. Both his grandfathers had names beginning with ‘S’, and so Truman’s mother didn’t want to disappoint either of them.

Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with the occult and the supernatural.

One of Queen Victoria’s wedding gifts was a 3 metre diameter, half tonne cheese.

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never phoned his wife or his mother, they were both deaf.

It was considered unfashionable for Venetian women, during the Renaissance to have anything but silvery-blonde hair.

Queen Victoria was one of the first women ever to use chloroform to combat pain during childbirth.

Peter the Great had the head of his wife’s lover cut off and put into a jar of preserving alcohol, which he then ordered to be placed by her bed.

The car manufacturer Henry Ford was awarded Hitler’s Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. Henry Ford was the inventor of the assembly line, and Hitler used this knowledge of the assembly line to speed up production, and to create better and interchangeable products.

Atilla the Hun is thought to have been a dwarf.

The warriors tribes of Ethiopia used to hang the testicles of those they killed in battle on the ends of their spears.

On 15 April 1912 the SS Titanic sunk on her maiden voyage and over 1,500 people died. Fourteen years earlier a novel was published by Morgan Robertson which seemed to foretell the disaster. The book described a ship the same size as the Titanic which crashes into an iceberg on its maiden voyage on a misty April night. The name of Robertson’s fictional ship was the Titan.

There are over 200 religious denominations in the United States.

Eau de Cologne was originally marketed as a way of protecting yourself against the plague.

Charles the Simple was the grandson of Charles the Bald, both were rulers of France.

Theodor Herzi, the Zionist leader who was born on May 2 1860, once had the astonishing idea of converting Jews to Christianity as a way of combating anti-Semitism.

The women of an African tribe make themselves more attractive by permanently scaring their faces.

Augustus II, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland seemed to have a prodigious sexual appetite, and fathered hundreds of illegitimate children during his lifetime.

Some moral purists in the Middle Ages believed that women’s ears ought to be covered up because the Virgin May had conceived a child through them.

Hindus don’t like dying in bed, they prefer to die beside a river.

While at Havard University, Edward Kennedy was suspended for cheating on a Spanish exam.

It is a criminal offence to drive around in a dirty car in Russia.

The Emperor Caligula once decided to go to war with the Roman God of the sea, Poseidon, and ordered his soldiers to throw their spears into the water at random.

The Ecuadorian poet, José Olmedo, has a statue in his honour in his home country. But, unable to commission a sculptor, due to limited funds, the government brought a second-hand statue .. Of the English poet Lord Byron.

In 1726, at only 7 years old, Charles Sauson inherited the post of official executioner.

Sir Winston Churchill rationed himself to 15 cigars a day.

On 7 January 1904 the distress call ‘CQD’ was introduced. ‘CQ’ stood for ‘Seek You’ and ‘D’ for ‘Danger’. This lasted only until 1906 when it was replaced with ‘SOS’.

Though it is forbidden by the Government, many Indians still adhere to the caste system which says that it is a defilement for even the shadow of a person from a lowly caste to fall on a Brahman ( a member of the highest priestly caste).

In parts of Malaya, the women keep harems of men.

The childrens’ nursery rhyme ‘Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses’ actually refers to the Black Death which killed about 30 million people in the fourteenth-century.

The word ‘denim’ comes from ‘de Nimes’, Nimes being the town the fabric was originally produced.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was a tax put on men’s beards.

Idi Amin, one of the most ruthless tyrants in the world, before coming to power, served in the British Army.

Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.

It is illegal to play tennis in the streets of Cambridge.

Custer was the youngest General in US history, he was promoted at the age of 23.

It costs more to send someone to reform school than it does to send them to Eton.

The American pilot Charles Lindbergh received the Service Cross of the German Eagle form Hermann Goering in 1938.

The active ingredient in Chinese Bird’s nest soup is saliva.

Marie Currie, who twice won the Nobel Prize, and discovered radium, was not allowed to become a member of the prestigious French Academy because she was a woman.

It was quite common for the men of Ancient Greece to exercise in public .. naked.

John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, had a payphone in his mansion.

Iceland is the world’s oldest functioning democracy.

Adolf Eichmann (responsible for countless Jewish deaths during World war II), was originally a travelling salesman for the Vacuum Oil Co. of Austria.

The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Matami Tribe of West Africa play a version of football, the only difference being that they use a human skull instead of a more normal ball.

John Winthrop introduced the fork to the American dinner table for the first time on 25 June 1630.

Elizabeth Blackwell, born in Bristol, England on 3 February 1821, was the first woman in America to gain an M.D. degree.

Abraham Lincoln was shot with a Derringer.

The great Russian leader, Lenin died 21 January 1924, suffering from a degenerative brain disorder. At the time of his death his brain was a quarter of its normal size.

When shipped to the US, the London bridge ( thought by the new owner to be the more famous Tower Bridge ) was classified by US customs to be a ‘large antique’.

Sir Winston Churchill was born in a ladies’ cloakroom after his mother went into labour during a dance at Blenheim Palace.

In 1849, David Atchison became President of the United States for just one day, and he spent most of the day sleeping.

Between the two World War’s, France was controlled by forty different governments.

The ‘Crystal Palace’ at the Great Exhibition of 1851, contained 92 900 square metres of glass.

It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on their testicles when taking an oath. The modern term ‘testimony’ is derived from this tradition.

Sir Winston Churchill’s mother was descended from a Red Indian.

The study of stupidity is called ‘monology’.

Hindu men believe(d) it to be unluckily to marry a third time. They could avoid misfortune by marring a tree first. The tree ( his third wife ) was then burnt, freeing him to marry again.

More money is spent each year on alcohol and cigarettes than on Life insurance.

In 1911 3 men were hung for the murder of Sir Edmund Berry at Greenbury Hill, their last names were Green, Berry , and Hill.

A firm in Britain sold fall-out shelters for pets.

During the seventeen century , the Sultan of Turkey ordered his entire harem of women drowned, and replace with a new one.

Lady Astor once told Winston Churchill ‘if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee’. His reply …’ if you were my wife, I would drink it ! ‘.

There are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos.

The Great Pyramid of Giza consists of 2,300,000 blocks each weighing 2.5 tons.

On 9 February 1942, soap rationing began in Britain.

Paul Revere was a dentist.

The Budget speech on April 17 1956 saw the introduction of Premium Savings Bonds into Britain. The machine which picks the winning numbers is called “Ernie”, an abbreviation, which stands for’ electronic random number indicator equipment’.

Chop-suey is not a native Chinese dish, it was created in California by Chinese immigrants.

The Russian mystic, Rasputin, was the victim of a series of murder attempts on this day in 1916. The assassins poisoned, shot and stabbed him in quick succession, but they found they were unable to finish him off. Rasputin finally succumbed to the ice-cold waters of a river.

Bonnie Prince Charlie, the leader of the Jacobite rebellion to depose of George II of England, was born 31 December 1720. Considered a great Scottish hero, he spent his final years as a drunkard in Rome.

The Liberal Prime Minister, William Gladstone, was born of the 29th December 1809. Apparently, as a result of his strong Puritan impulses, Gladstone kept a selection of whips in his cellar with which he regularly chastised himself.

A parthenophobic has a fear of virgins.

South American gauchos were known to put raw steak under their saddles before starting a day’s riding, in order to tenderise the meat.

There are 240 white dots in a Pacman arcade game.

In 1939 the US political party ‘The American Nazi Party’ had 200,000 members.

King Solomon of Israel had about 700 wives as well as hundreds of mistresses.

Urine was once used to wash clothes.

North American Indian, Sitting Bull, died on 15 December 1890. His bones were laid to rest in North Dakota, but a business group wanted him moved to a ‘more natural’ site in South Dakota. Their campaign was rejected so they stole the bones, and they now reside in Sitting Bull Park, South Dakota.

St Nicholas, the original Father Christmas, is the patron saint of thieves, virgins and communist Russia.

Dublin is home of the Fairy Investigation Society.

Fourteen million people were killed in World War I, twenty million died in a flu epidemic in the years that followed.

People in Siberia often buy milk frozen on a stick.

Princess Ann was the only competitor at the 1976 Montreal Olympics that did not have to undergo a sex test.

Ethelred the Unready, King of England in the Tenth-century, spent his wedding night in bed with his wife and his mother-in-law.

Coffins which are due for cremation are usually made with plastic handles.

Blackbird, who was the chief of Omaha Indians, was buried sitting on his favourite horse.

The two highest IQ’s ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women.

The Tory Prime Minister, Benjamin Disreali, was born 21 December 1804. He was noted for his oratory and had a number of memorable exchanges in the House with his great rival William Gladstone. Asked what the difference between a calamity and a misfortune was Disreali replied: ‘If Gladstone fell into the Thames it would be a misfortune, but if someone pulled him out again, it would be a calamity’.

The Imperial Throne of Japan has been occupied by the same family for the last thirteen hundred years.

In the seventeenth-century a Boston man was sentenced to two hours in the stocks for obscene behaviour, his crime, kissing his wife in a public place on a Sunday.

President Kaunda of Zambia once threatened to resign if his fellow countrymen didn’t stop drinking so much alcohol.

Due to staggering inflation in the 1920’s, 4,000,000,000,000,000,000 German marks were worth 1 US dollar.

Gorgias of Epirus was born during preparation of his mothers funeral.

The city of New York contains a district called ‘Hell’s Kitchen’.

The city of Hiroshima left the Industrial Promotion Centre standing as a monument the atomic bombing.

During the Medieval Crusades, transporting bodies off the battlefield for burial was a major problem, this was solved by carrying a huge cauldron into the Holy wars, boiling down the bodies, and taking only the bones with them.

A ten-gallon hat holds three-quarters of a gallon.

George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.

ha ha. When I first typed that title it corrected it to ”squiddy bits” – not sure how appropriate that is

I have good news about my squidgy bits – they are shrinking! If you check my vital statistics you’ll see that since starting I’ve managed to shed around 16cm, which makes me really happy. My PT is happy too – she wants to see the weight come down to, but she said the cms are really important too, as it means I am replacing fat with muscle, which means that now when I wave at someone, it is more of a “wibble wobble” than an air displacement roughly the same as a 747 taking off. Those are my words, not my PT’s – she had much more scientific stuff in there that I can’t remember.

Am back on the healthy eating again, which is great, except am detoxing from caffeine, which makes me a bit grumpy etc I miss coffee more than I miss alcohol (yes, I know, TRY not to pass out from shock). Giving up the plonk has been relatively easy – I do love a tipple but I find I don’t actually miss it that much. this is also doing wonders for our budgeting – takes much less when I do actually drink for me to feel “merry”, so good stuff. KFC (the bastards) have bought out mashies again, which is one of my all time favourite things but so far I have remained stoic and driven past the tempting sign. Hey, don’t ask me to explain – some people feel the same way about tim tams, which I can’t stand and am bewildered by the idea that ANYONE could sit down and eat a WHOLE packet of them – yuck!!

So, I am still training hard, am avoiding most of the explosions in the minefield of “food to avoid” and am shrinking my squidgy bits. Not too bad, not too bad. And I’m keeping an eye out for any squiddy bits – sounds dangerous.

Hey! I’m in Santiago right now and we’re waiting to go to our hotel. Yesterday, we were in Valparaiso. The day was full of so many different scents, sounds and beautiful houses. It was pretty overwhelming spending the whole day walking around a city you don’t know, half asleep from the red-eye plane you just took. Despite the tiredness, I had an amazing day in Valparaiso. It is such a beautiful city! I have definitely considered having a country house there when I’m older, overlooking the ocean and city. When we landed in Santiago, we met my dad’s friends who drove us to the bus stop so we could get to Valparaiso. Since I had gotten no sleep during the night my mom asked me, “Are you at least going to sleep on the bus?” and I said, “No, I don’t sleep on buses”. But of course, just seconds after sitting down I was fast asleep. 90 minutes later we arrived in Valparaiso. We took a taxi to our extraordinary hotel. The hotel is made up of about 4 or 5 apartments with 2 rooms and a bathroom each. At the top floor there is a very beautiful terrace with huge windows instead of walls. They overlook the bay of Valparaiso and lots of very colourful houses. The view was amazing. After lying down and resting for a little while, we headed off towards the center of the town. The bottom of the hill, in the center of the town, is the exact opposite of the areas on the hill. The center of town is very noisy and full of busy people while the areas on hill are quiet and almost as if your in a whole other world while looking at the breathtaking view of the ocean. We walked around a lot and got very tired very fast. We took a shaky funicular ride up to the prettier part of town and ate lunch and dinner around there. The one thing I noticed about Valparaiso right away, where the scary amount of stray dogs wandering around (and the same amount of dog poop on the streets). There were probably more stray dogs roaming around than there are squirrels in Montreal. People in Chile treat dogs very differently than we do in North America. The dogs follow people around and they don’t even notice or don’t pay any attention to them, as if the hundreds of them aren’t even there. The people of Chile must be very used to the dogs and the poop, though we definitely were not at all. At the end of the day, we were exhausted and fell asleep right away. I fell in love with Valparaiso and hope one day I’ll get to go back.

In the morning, we woke up fairly early and went for breakfast at the beautiful top floor of our hotel. After we ate, my dad went to work for a little bit and my mom and I went to visit one of Pablo Neruda’s well known homes called “La Sebastiana”. The house was VERY beautiful and interesting. The outside walls of his house were round and not square which gave you a better view of the city. The house was full of different colours and patterns. The view from each floor of his house was breathtaking (especially since the day was very sunny and bright). After visiting his house, we headed back to the hotel, ate lunch and then headed back towards Santiago, leaving the beautiful city by the sea behind us. While in the car towards Santiago, we could see the majestic Andes Mountains, with just a bit of snow at the tops. It was a very interesting view seeing the mountains tower over the skyscrapers. When we arrived in Santiago, my mom and dad had a coffee and I enjoyed some delicious chocolate ice cream while sinking in the new city and surroundings. After our rest, my dad went back to work and my mom and I walked around the shopping district of Santiago, which isn’t very exiting at all. Most of the stores are very weird and filled with strange things, except for the big department stores. After our little tour we sat down and waited for my dad to finish and waited to go to the hotel. I started writing then, though now I am sitting on the bed in the hotel room. The past two days have been very exiting and interesting and I have started learning more and more Spanish. I absolutely loved Valparaiso (even though I have already said it a bunch of times) and from what I have seen of Santiago it seems like a great city as well. I’ll be writing more tomorrow!

Bye!

Madison

Racing makes me tired!

As soon as I got home from the race, I made a giant glass of chocolate milk. My tummy felt weird, and I knew that I needed to get some protein and sugar in to start the recovery process.

After I showered and got ready to leave for class, hunger hit me! I made a quick bowl of mac n’ peas!

Did you know that one serving of peas adds 5 g of protein and 4g of fiber!? Way to bulk up the meal!

I STRUGGLED to stay awake in my FE Review class yesterday. The adrenaline rush faded and left me feeling like I had nothing left in me. My “gas tank” was on empty! (As was my car!)

I packed plenty of fluids…

..a honey crisp apple (eaten on break)…

…and a CLIF bar (I ate the whole thing!)

Jason and I were lazy and made Pizza for dinner!

Man pizza:

MegaN- veggie pizza:

Delicious!

Plus, mini bowl of Moose Tracks frozen yogurt, eaten in bed while watching multiple episodes of Gossip Girl!

*****

I’m declaring today a Day of Rest! My legs deserve it! They pushed hard yesterday, and I’m pampering them today.

It felt SO good to wake up this morning and be able to relax! No long run to get ready for, no class to rush off to, nothing at all! Granted, I have much school work needing to be done, but it can be put off an hour to enjoy the early morning quiet.

I made a pot of coffee, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast outside.

I feel like lately breakfast has been SUPER rushed or even force fed (like before long runs and races). I got to eat whatever I wanted and however slow I wanted. It was beautiful!

On the menu was flax French toast with banana….

…and syrup for dipping! YUM!

My goals for the day are:

• Spend some time with Jason (He’s been neglected)
• Study for at least 4 hours (two tests this week)
• Farmer’s Market

I think I can do it!

<3 MegaNerd

In this picture is the front of a cafe that I’ve found close to the residence that I go to often for coffee, but displayed in the window is nothing related to coffee, but rather bottles of alcohol. I find it very interesting that cafes in Italy doesn’t mean the same thing as cafe in America, even though places like Starbucks base their whole business on being like an Italian cafe. Unlike the normal rush of American coffee shops (Starbucks teaches its baristas that no one should have to wait any longer than three minutes to order, pay, and get their drink) Italians sit and enjoy their coffee for long periods of time. The interesting thing is that in the morning an Italian could just as easily order an alcoholic beverage instead, which isn’t the case in America. I feel like the lax drinking laws (including the fact that Italians don’t have laws against open containers of alcohol and drink often on the streets) would have an extreme impact on the health of Italians. Though, it doesn’t seem to actually be a problem. If American cafes were like this I feel like people would start binge drinking early in the day. It is interesting to see that even though alcohol is served everywhere (including McDonald’s) its not a problem like it is in the US and the Italians continue to be one of the countries with the least about of alcohol abuse.

De asemenea va recomand si softul de legislatie legis. Acest Legis este un soft pe calculcator care cauta in legislatia romaneasca si europeana la zi, oferindu-ti informatii actualizate.

Iata am luat la birou un automat de cafea de ceva breme. Aveam nevoie de un nou filtru de cafea, si am gasit aceste filtre de cafea profesionale pe care vi le recomand cu cel mai mare drag.

DaCA VREI sa cumperi un automat de cafea, iti recomand automate de cafea de la alcor. Aceste automat ede cafea sunt niste automate de cafea profesioniste, pentru orice buzunar.

Sunt de o calitate foarte buna.

Legis este un soft de legislatie, care-ti prezinta legislatia la zi pe calculator. Daca nu stiai de el atunci este timpul sa aflii mai multe.

Te-ai gandit vreodata cum ar fi sa cari cu tine un geamantan de carti si volume de legislatie? Oriunde te-ai duce?…

Dar oare stii cat de mult ia sa gasesti informatii in aceste carti, si volume imense?

Iata ca acum doar cu un caculator si cu softul de legislatie legis nu cautarea prin textele legislative nu mai este dificila.

Am gasit automate de cafea profesionale. De mult cautam asa ceva pentru biroul meu. Va recomand si voua.

Intotdeauna am urat cafeaua la filtru. Dar iata ca am cautat filtre de cafea profesionale si am gasit pe Google aceasta oferta extraordinara pentru mine. Am cumparat si amt estat. Pot sa ma declar foarte multumita. Au niste filtre de cafea excelente.

Fiind in industria masinilor, o persoana activa trebuie sa fiu la zi si cu legislatia autohtona. Asa ca intrebarea mea este, ce parere aveti despre legis? Este un program care merita folosit sau  nu?

Si in alta ordine de idei. Mi-am cumparat doua automate de cafea pentru birou. Colegii mei sunt foarte fericiti si ma bucvuru ca i-0am putut bucura. Recomand si firma.