A bit behind…
Well, it was about a month ago that I wrote commenting on being sick, and letting you all know that I would be getting back to my normal writing schedule. That didn’t happen. Work happened. All my time since then has been spent managing between 2 and 5 developers, and trying to get a project that would end up weighing in at almost 50,000 lines of code completed and to production.
Read more…So Ends The River of Schwag
About six months ago, I predicted the end of the Valleyschwag project, that prediction recently came to pass. The Valleyscwag team recently announced the last ‘issue’ and the end of the schwag express. I knew it was coming, looks like I called it a bit too soon. The model they had was an interesting idea, just not one that could scale. Perhaps with a more restrictive subscription system, maybe if they had based it on invitations instead of being completely open, they could have slowed the growth enough.
Read more…Under the Weather
A bit over a month ago, I came down with a nasty cold and things have been slipping since then. It’s taken me quite some to recover. This site, a number of personal projects and just about everything else has been neglected. Today is the first day in weeks I’ve been up to doing anything after work. I’ve finally started catching up on all I’ve missed. Hopefully there will be more signs of life here in the coming days, as I dig out of the pile of thousands of unread items in my RSS reader.
Read more…Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines
For those that missed it (like me), the Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines has been updated with some additional content. This update add content in the following areas: Software Branding Confirmations Warnings Toolbars Sound Icons These guidelines are crucial to ensure the most consistent user experience possible. Though many don’t, this is a document that all developers should read. I firmly believe that consistency is the most important single factor in design, and following an established style such as this is a great way to ensure that a UI is as consistent as possible.
Read more…WordPress 2.1.1
The latest and greatest version of WordPress (the software that powers this site) has been released. This release looks to be mainly small fixes; nothing earth shattering this time around. As always, painless upgrade, and all seems to be working well. As I didn’t see a package for just the changed files, I went ahead and zipped them up. These are just the changed files from 2.1, so this should make the upgrade process much quicker if you’ve already got 2.
Read more….NET Reflector v5 Released
The great Lutz Roeder has released a new version of the .NET Reflector. From what I’ve seen; this version is extremely nice. This has long been a required tool of any serious developer. With this update Reflector has reinforced its position in the list of tools you just can’t live without. Scott Hanselman provides a great review; check it out for the details on what’s new.
Vista & ReadyBoost
Using Vista? Then I highly recommend getting a decent 1GB+ thumb drive, and use it for ReadyBoost; while the FAQ says 256MB is enough, for best performance I’d shoot for more. There is little difference under normal operation, it’s under high loads that ReadyBoost really shines. On my main PC (with 1GB RAM), I would see fairly frequent freezes when several applications were open (primarily when memory utilization passed 80%). With a minor upgrade to 1.
Read more…I Love My Job
I love what I do, and I work with a great team. While it’s still far from perfect; I can say that I do love my job. For the last couple weeks though, I’ve had to remind myself of this several times. I’m sure we’ve all done it, in this industry it’s hard to avoid. You read an email or receive a phone call and repeat the mantra “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.
Read more…From Outlook, to Gmail, to The Bat!
Back in March, I switched from The Bat! to Outlook as a result of being annoyed with using two different clients (work & home)*. So today, I’m running The Bat again, thanks to Gmail. Moving to Gmail I had been thinking about moving to Gmail for a while, the other day I decided to bite the bullet and do it. There was some pain involved, but not as bad as I expected.
Read more…OpenDNS
Looking for a bit of a speed boost? OpenDNS might just help. Using the OpenDNS network, instead of your ISP’s DNS servers seems to really boost the speed of the name resolution process (which is often the slowest part of connecting to another computer). From what I’ve seen so far, there’s been a fairly significant speed boost on some sites, primarily those that include content from several domains. The boost isn’t that great when you look at the overall loading process, but it does reduce the annoying lag when the browser starts loading.
Read more…
About Me
Security researcher, engineer and software developer with more than 20 years of experience.
Work: I primarily focus on application security, usable security, secure communications, and cryptography. I build and lead strong and dynamic teams, who cover all facets of security and privacy.
Writing: I write about my research, security in general, development and software design, and leadership through my blog, essays, and various publications. I also engage in some creating writing when I can.
Photography: I am a purist fine art photographer, working primarily in black & white, and focused on sharing new perspectives of the world. Limited edition prints of my work are available on my online gallery. I also have a background in photojournalism, and volunteer in this field when I can.