Spam & Gmail
I just dropped by to check my Gmail account (which is almost never used, and the address has never been published anywhere), and found quite a surprise. The spam box currently has 7,026 spam messages! Keeping in mind that spam is deleted after 30 days, that means I’m getting 7,000 spam messages a month to an unknown, unpublished account! All of my other email accounts use two layers of filtering, one at the server, the other in the client.
Read more…Buying a Car
I recently took a trip down to the local VW dealership to see what the ‘07 Jetta‘s look like. I was rather impressed. The new Jetta is a very sharp, very sporty car; a rather impressive ride. I had no intention of buying, I just wanted to take one for a test drive. That is, until I saw a black Wolfsburg edition. As soon as I saw the car, I knew it was true: love at first sight is real.
Read more…Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1
I must have missed the memo on this, but it seems the first service pack for Visual Studio 2005 has been released (release notes). This release should add a lot of stability to the IDE and resolve of number of issues (such as the frequent VB compiler crashes). It’s a rather large download, approximately 450 MB, and is rather slow to install, but it promises to be well worth it.
Read more…Things You Shouldn’t Worry About
I’ve been a fan of Patrick’s blog for some time now, and one of his recent articles, Things You Shouldn’t Worry About, really shines. While I can’t agree with everything, most of the points really make sense. If you run an ISV, or are thinking about starting one, I highly recommend that you read this, it’s well worth it.
Yes, I am alive!
My blog has been rather quiet recently, largely due to a project I’ve been working on for one of the largest banks in the country. The project, a dynamic, scriptable, plug-in driven data capture system, has finally been released and is in production. I’ll not bore you with any of the details, so I’ll get right to the point: I’ve got a life again! Well, at least as much of a life as a developer / technologist / workaholic ever has.
Read more…Want a free copy of Vista?
Microsoft is currently running a promotion for free copies of Vista Business Edition and Office 2007 Professional. The deal looks a bit like this: You watch 3 videos, answer some questions about the videos, then fill out a form with a bunch of personal information. Sounds to me like a great deal. This is quite similar to a promotion some time back for a free copy of Visual Studio. Here’s the downside: If you are a member of the Microsoft Partner Program, or Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), you aren’t eligible for these offers.
Read more…The Optimus Ghost-town
For those of you that have followed the famous (or now infamous) Optimus keyboard, the project has just lost a major feature (the latest in a series of many to be cut) that will substantially cut into the number of people who would buy one. In a few short words, many lost interest: Optimus-103 will use black and white displays The once great design has now crumbled into a shadow of its former self.
Read more…Fiddler2 – Now Available
A new version of the popular debugging proxy Fiddler has been announced. The new version, dubbed Fiddler2, adds support debugging HTTPS traffic just as you would unsecured HTTP traffic. Per the FAQs, this new version effectively runs a MITM attack to do its job, while this is the most effective way of doing this, there is the downside of the browser showing an error, though you should be able to continue by ignoring these warnings.
Read more…Installing Vista
I installed Vista last night twice; the first was an upgrade from XP Pro on my laptop, the other a fresh install on my desktop. The experience was quite interesting for both; here are a few thoughts about the process: Laptop My laptop has a fairly modest configuration, 1.73GHz Pentium M, 512MB, 80GB hard-drive, and Mobil Intel 915 64MB for the graphics. It’s been running Windows XP Pro, last night I went through the upgrade process to Vista Business.
Read more…Vista Available via MSDN
For those interested, Windows Vista is now available via MSDN Subscriber Downloads. Hurry up and get your copy while there’s still bandwidth left. Have fun 🙂
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.