I Won't Be Abandoning Windows XP

Windows XP is at an end.  Microsoft announced a while back that they were stopping support of the operating system, and as of April 9th, they will no longer be providing security updates to the graying OS.  This leaves many people in a lurch.  Some users of XP cannot upgrade because their current computer cannot run a more modern OS and they cannot afford to upgrade their hardware.  Other users, especially on college campuses, have laboratory and specialized equipment that was build on a Windows XP platform and the vendor either cannot upgrade it or went out of business years ago.

Of course, there are also those who just don't want to change their OS.  Their computer runs "just fine", and why fix what isn't broken?  Warnings about security problems fall on deaf ears, and resistance grows with every attempt to sway them away from their Windows XP.

---

I Won't Be Abandoning Windows XP

I've had this here laptop since twenty-oh-one.
The two of us have had all sorts of great fun.
The best part about it was all it could be
Because I upgraded from Me to XP!

XP was the better OS, sir, by far.
'Twas faster and stabler and shined like a star.
It ran all my programs, a crash was quite rare.
It made my computing come without a care.

Oh, sure it had updates to fix this and that.
Three service packs later, quite stable it sat.
Occasional viruses might have caused harm,
But after a cleaning I'd feel snug and warm.

And now you all tell me that this is all done.
You tell me that XP's a race that is run.
I just won't believe it, I won't let it go.
Hell no, I won't upgrade, I just love it so!

Sure MS won't update my box any more.
They've thrown in the towel, they've shut up the door.
They've moved on to 7 and gross Windows 8.
But I just refuse to accept that whole fate.

So keep all your warnings, they won't be observed.
To me it all sounds like a notion absurd.
My XP keeps running, my XP loves me!
No, I won't be abandoning Windows XP!

NTP is DoS-ening.

Criminals recently have been using poorly-configured NTP (Network Time Protocol) servers to launch Denial of Service (DoS) attacks on a number of victim networks and sites on the Internet.  Proper NTPD configuration would help stop this misuse.

---

NTP is DoS-ening

Pardon me.  What time is it?
The answer could cause a fit.
I'll bet your site can't handle it.
A DoS attack will flip its bit.

NTP is listening.
A golden ring is glistening.
A DoS attack is quite the thing!
The packetstorm is littering.

The bad guys find an open host,
And with the proper query post,
They fake the source, and with a boast,
They turn your website into toast.

'Cause they all got themselves some bots
That wait for them to call the shots
The bots all front and lie a lots
Like "eating healthy tatertots".

A million bots all say hello
And tell the answers where to go.
And NTP? Heck, it don't know.
It sends them to some lucky shmoe

Whose network pipe gets overfilled.
Their ISP gets over-billed.
Like gardens that are never tilled,
They're strangled and then fin'lly killed.

So if you're running NTP,
Please take the time, listen to me:
Help make a net that's clear and free.
Secure that stuff! Yo, hear my plea.