vidaenelvalle.comBy Jess M. Gonzalez
(Published Wednesday, April, 30, 2003 10:00AM)
Seemingly, they look rather simple to execute -- throwing, hitting, catching and running -- the basic fundamental actions required to play the game of baseball. Even small children, to different degrees of skill, accuracy, speed, power and distance, can usually accomplish them without much trouble.
However, onlookers be warned: looks can be deceiving. Because, if mastering these tasks were easy, baseball would not be the game from which players and spectators alike derive so much pleasure. That said, let's give a big Central California welcome to spring, the season of the year that brings the season of the game that for over 150 years laid claim to being "America's favorite pastime." Though that claim may be somewhat in question today, to people who live and breathe the sport, the only thing that matters is the crack of the bat and all the fun that follows.
Much like birds that fly south for the winter, only to return in the spring, the "boys of summer" are back wearing Fresno Grizzlies uniforms. This is the sixth summer in a row that professional baseball will be played in Fresno after an absence of far too many years. Because of it, things seem to again make sense and have purpose here. Despite the often tragic and unfortunate problems that plague the world, Fresno and Central Californians will again enjoy moments of great fun in the cool of summer evenings seeing baseball at the beautiful and spacious downtown ballpark. For those of us who feel passionate about the game, that makes all the difference in improving our quality of life in our special corner of the globe.
A mere step from the show
Though the Grizzlies have not yet won a Pacific Coast League championship, they've played hard and throughly entertained local fans of all ages and ethnic backgrounds with their high level of play that is a short step from the big leagues. How can we tell? Simple. Teams from both the National and American Leagues are dotted with players that have played for and against the Grizzlies in Fresno. Of course, being the Triple A affiliate of the Giants -- the favorite team of the majority of Central Californians -- most of those players now wear the orange and brown laced uniform of the San Francisco team.
Vida steps to the plate
Recognizing the widespread interest in the Grizzlies and baseball in general by fans in Fresno and throughout the area, Vida En El Valle is stepping to the plate to provide a special weekly report on the Grizzlies throughout the 2003 season. For most fans, familiarity with the players is limited to seeing them perform out on the field. Through this report, Vida En El Valle will go beyond the foul lines and follow the players off the field to provide insight on who they are and what it takes for them to play professionally at the Triple A level. And, yes -- we will touch on the statistics that baseball fans relish, but that will not be our main purpose. For, as we all know, statistics get old and can be impersonal. Instead, we want to deal with the human side of the game -- its players.
More importantly, being a news service that targets the area's large and growing Hispanic community, we will feature "los peloteros," the team's Hispanic ball players. Throughout the team's existence, these talented and colorful players have played an integral part of the team's success and popularity. They hail from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, México, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, Columbia, El Salvador, Costa Rica and, yes, the United States. Most of them arrive in our country with limited English language skills and feel out of place in a society much different from the one they left behind. They suffer from homesickness and tend to stick close to more experienced players who share their culture. Aside from a the unique cultural aspects they bring to the game, they also bring outstanding skill, flair and competitiveness. At the major league level we're all familiar with the stars -- Sosa, Rodríguez, Tejada, Durazo, Soriano, El Duque, Santiago, Vizquel, Martínez, and so many, many more. Yet, it is in the minor leagues where they have to prove and improve themselves. In a manner of speaking, time spent in the minors are their profession's formative years .
While its play action takes places inside its foul lines, throughout its illustrious history, baseball has always reflected the feelings of our society. In fact, it has helped bring about social change. We're all familiar with the great Jackie Robinson, who broke the racial barrier by becoming the first black to play major league baseball in modern times.
U.K. police nab Fluffi Bunni hacker
By Gillian Law and Paul Roberts, IDG News Service
APRIL 30, 2003
Content Type: Story
Source: IDG News Service
Members of the U.K. Computer Crime Unit arrested a suspected member of the notorious hacker group Fluffi Bunni yesterday.
Lynn Htun, 24, was arrested by U.K. Metropolitan Police when they recognized him on a stand at the InfoSec computer security show in London yesterday. Htun was arrested on charges of nonappearance in Guildford Crown Court in Guildford, England, on forgery charges, Metropolitan Police spokesman Nick Jordan said today.
He was due to appear in Guildford Crown Court today, Jordan said.
Fluffi Bunni is believed to be responsible for a series of attacks against the Web sites of U.S. computer security organizations. After compromising sites, the group left a picture of a stuffed pink rabbit as its calling card.
Fluffi Bunni carried out 23 attacks between June 2000 and January 2002, according to digital security company Mi2g Ltd. in London. Those included attacks on www.mcdonalds.co.uk in February 2001, www.sans.org and www.attrition.org in July 2001, and www.securityfocus.com in November 2001, Mi2g spokesman Jan Andresen said Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police stressed that yesterday's arrest was purely on nonappearance charges and didn't say how its computer-crime-unit officers recognized Htun.
Htun, who used the online name "Danny-Boy," was known within hacking circles as a member of Fluffi Bunni, according to Rafael Nunez, a senior research scientist at Scientech de Venezuela in Caracas who is known online as "RaFa."
However, the group had a "fluid" membership and included other prominent hackers outside the U.K., he said.
Htun may have initially come to the attention of U.K. authorities monitoring Internet Relay Chat channels frequented by hackers. He had a reputation as a "packet monkey," someone responsible for conducting denial-of-service attacks against Web sites, Nunez said.
"We're really happy," said Alan Paller, director of research at SANS Institute Inc., which had its Web page defaced by Fluffi Bunni in July 2001.
Htun's identity was known to authorities soon after the SANS attack, Paller said, but for some reason, movement toward an arrest was slow. "We're ecstatic that he didn't get out of the U.K. before he was arrested," he said.
Venezuela's Maza Blasts Government for Delay in Selling Dollars
By Alex Kennedy and Peter Wilson
Caracas, April 30 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's economy is suffering from a lack of imports as the government's foreign exchange commission doesn't make dollars available for companies to pay for overseas suppliers.
This is very bad, very negative, and very worrisome,'' Central Bank Director Domingo Maza said before a press conference. And it's not happening because of a lack of dollars.''
Maza, one of seven central bank directors and a holdover from the previous government, said the central bank made available $1.2 billion to the country's foreign exchange commission for sale this month. The commission has ``used less than $1 million.''
The government banned dollar sales in January after a two- month general strike cut oil production by as much as 95 percent. Oil sales provide 43 percent of government revenue.
Venezuela imports about 60 percent of its food, clothing, medicine and electronic goods.
Last Updated: April 30, 2003 11:36 EDT