Intruder alert! Intruder alert!

Okay, this is kind of lame, but last night I was going about my business, reading a bit of news online and downloading some podcasts, when I noticed that there was a shared folder on my iTunes.

Huh?

I opened it up and it connected me to a couple thousand indie rock songs. I sat there bewildered for a minute before it hit me.

The college kids next door were jacking my WiFi signal!

I hadn't secured my signal, and my lame excuse was that I didn't totally understand what was involved and was a little afraid I'd do something wrong and lock myself out of my own network. Well, last night I educated myself right quick on what steps to take to lock down my signal and keep intruders out.

I'm sure the kids were just piggybacking to get online, but I realize it could have been much worse. Had they had malicious intent they easily could have been cyber-voyeurs (at best) or full-blown identity thieves (at worst).

This also would explain why our connection has been mysteriously slow from time to time.

Anyway, I guess ultimately no harm no foul, but it did sort of solve my internal quandary over whether or not it's okay to steal a neighbor's signal. I guess when it's not your signal it's easy to say yeah, no problem, it's there so use it. Once you're the one who's getting their broadband lifted, along with the raft of security concerns that opens up, your perspective changes pretty quickly.

Granted, I accept some blame for not securing my signal earlier, but that still doesn't make the act of theft right.

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Four more years!

Tomorrow marks the 4-year anniversary of Rudy and I DJing on Tuesday nights, and it should be a lot of fun. I'll go into more detail tomorrow, but I just want to remind everyone to keep the evening open! If you've never been out to see us, or if it's been an awful long time since you stopped by, tomorrow is the night to do it. Also I've got a bunch of CDs and EPs to give away so lots of people will be stumbling home with free stuff as well, so I think it's safe to say a good time is guaranteed for all.

Four years. Three locations. Two DJs. One night.

The Fourth Anniversary of The Evening No Longer Known As Sweet Alice Tuesdays. Tomorrow, December 12, at The Pontiac.

Be there!