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Nov 30 2012
Below is some code I wrote a while ago for an application that had been written in Perl.I was in a situation where I had to track dependencies on user actions. As an example:This action. . .Can NOT be completed before these actionsaction_4action_1, action_2, action_3action_3action_2action_2action_1But of course I wanted to give the user the power to specify any action they wanted. (including a list of actions) So, if the code was told to do ‘action_4’, it would look that action up, see that actions 1, 2, and 3 needed to be completed first, and then do them.
Oct 28 2012
In a previous post, I discussed “Security through Obscurity” and briefly touched on the concept of SNOW.Here we’ll look a little deeper at SNOW and showcase some of the work I have done with it.Some technical back-story on SNOW:I think the original author’s website says it best. . .Whitespace SteganographyThe encoding scheme used by snow relies on the fact that spaces and tabs (known as whitespace), when appearing at the end of lines, are invisible when displayed in pretty well all text viewing programs.
Sep 26 2012
It’s been well established that something which is hidden is rarely secure. This is the basis for the phrase in the title of this post. It has become a dirty word in the world of cryptography and software development where it is generally accepted that the only secure mechanisms are those which are fully known to all parties (both good and bad) and yet still maintain their integrity when attacked.Although as a software engineer I agree with and follow this logic, I have always felt that obscurity can also be a tool to be leveraged and “obscurity” can mean more than just hiding the source code from outside perview.
Sep 19 2012
When upgrading the structure of an old database with production data, it’s easy to find resources online that will show you how to do a MySQL dump and import it into a new database with an improved structure. Heck, even if the database has some oddities with it, it’s usually straight forward.But what if you have this scenario:A production database where most tables have an auto increment column used as a unique ID.
Aug 31 2012
grep is a great little command and probably the first “advanced” command most people learn when first exposed to shell scripting. But what do you do when you need to regularly search a LARGE file system that takes a normal grep command minutes (hours?) to traverse? Even worse, what if that file system has user data mixed in with developer code as well as svn repositories, archive folders and all sorts of other nonsense that returns loads of false positives for even the most targeted, code specific grep you can do?
Aug 17 2012
In the Spring of 2011, I was very much jaded by the telecom industry. You buy a smart phone ($80+) and home TV/Internet ($100+) and after almost $200 a month you’re still stuck out in the cold when you want to watch TV on the go or connect a mobile laptop to the internet. 500 channels with nothing on, paying for commercials, double paying for internet, re-runs, dropped calls, and overage charges.
Aug 04 2012
This is an old post from back in 2011. . ..My siblings and I all decided to “make” each other something this year instead of buying Christmas presents. So I made my brother a cryptex.Check out the video tear down below.Special thanks to all of the people at www.instructables.com that posted videos and pictures of their versions.
Jul 16 2012
For those who haven’t seen this before, every new year I take some time to reflect on the past year and take note of some of the major things that happened. I do this for several reasons:1) To keep a list for myself of things worth remembering2) As sort of a “Christmas letter” to people I care about3) To give myself perspective on my accomplishments and short comings to be learned fromPlans for 2011: (based on last years predictions)PromotionMoving down to MD permanentlyGraduating from Grad schoolRugby World Cup in NZI accomplished everything I thought I would!
Jul 16 2012
For those who haven’t seen this before, every new year I take some time to reflect on the past year and take note of some of the major things that happened. I do this for several reasons:1) To keep a list for myself of things worth remembering2) As sort of a “Christmas letter” to people I care about3) To give myself perspective on my accomplishments and short comings to be learned fromPlans for 2010: (based on last years predictions)- Moving down to VA for work- Rugby tour around the UK in the Spring- Wedding in Florida (with vacation?
Jul 13 2012
For those who haven’t seen this before, every new year I take some time to reflect on the past year and take note of some of the major things that happened. I do this for several reasons:1) To keep a list for myself of things worth remembering2) As sort of a “Christmas letter” to people I care about3) To give myself perspective on my accomplishments and short comings to be learned fromThe plans I had for 2009: (list from last year)Accomplished:- New job at work- VA conference in late January- Promotion- more grad school- Playing Rugby this Spring for my old team- Buying a house in KoP- Va conference again in the summer SummerMissed:- Possible trip to CA- Possible trip to the South WestSo I did everything but the two trips.