Today we shut off zZq’s jabber server after 12 years. Unsurprisingly GTalk/Hangouts started off offering federation with independent XMPP servers only to disable it early 2017 after most people had migrated to Google. Sadly this more or less rendered zZqIM useless. Only 3 users regularly logged in, which didn’t justify the cost of the server to keep it running. The last holdouts have finally migrated to Hangouts.

With the money saved we will most certainly use it for alcohol and pour one out in honor of another lost friend.

zZqIM circa 2006

I have tried, and when the iPhone X is replaced by a newer, larger version, I’ll be back, but till then…

The iPhone 8 Plus is larger than I want it to be, but the screen is more important than FaceID, or the swiping gestures, or the one and only time I sent an Animoji to someone.

the [PRODUCT]RED iPhone 8 Plus is perhaps the best looking iPhone of all time, and it will be mine. If I’m going to pay an extra $10 per month to be in T-Mobile’s Jump! OnDemand plan, I’m going to use the hell out of it and have zero regrets.

The “RED” phone on the 8 and 8 Plus has a black bezel, which, let’s be honest, is THE RIGHT COLOR. White bezels are for basic people who like Rose Gold and Silver and whatever other weak colors are out there that aren’t Space Grey.

So, the minute I can switch from the wonderful, but just-a-bit-too-small iPhone X, I’m going to. Likewise, the minute I can switch from the 8 Plus to the X2 Plus (or whatever it’s called), I will.

Long Live zZq Day! (otherwise known as Presidents’ Day in the United States)

May all of your brick walls be turned into doors safely.

Our old friend, companion, antagonist, driver, and general ally veruus passed away. He fought against Leukemia, which had gone undiagnosed for a few years. Extensive treatment followed, and a bone marrow transplant was scheduled before he succumbed to the condition.

Ben attended many Black Hat and DEF CON conferences and lived between Utah and Florida.

Most of us can hope to be as memorable as he was, for better and worse.

Old School – Austin, TX

Who knows what will happen…

This is quite a day to be changing things, I agree, but on the contrary, it is a day for change.