Comp Sec Sites

I’m gonna use this to record interesting/useful information on computer security. Starting off with a post on switch hardening - these are complex switches we’re talking about:
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=6910&rss;

Geotagging Photos

Well, I’m disappointed by the way Picasa handles geotagging photos in Linux. It looks like the newest version doesn’t support geotagging. Not only that, but when it resizes images to upload to Picasa on the web, it kills any EXIF information that may have specified a location. What the heck Picasa? Why you gotta clobber my shit?

I can preserve the geotags by uploading directly from my G1 (slow), or by going to the Picasa website and uploading from there (can’t do a batch upload, also can’t resize automatically).

Current Chili Recipe

Here’s my current chili recipe. This one is going to be awesome when it’s all done. It’s good enough right now that I have a hard time sticking to my plan to make it awesome without the spiciness, then add the spicy in later. The last few times I’ve made it I’ve added in the peppers… Shame on me. It’s just too tasty to resist.

1 can bush kidney beans 1/2 can bush pinto beans 1 lb browned ground beef 1 can hunts diced tomatoes 1.5 tbsp chili powder - I’ve been using McCormick’s 1 tsp Mexican oregano 1 tsp garlic powder 1 red bell pepper, minced 1/2 red onion, minced 4 jalapeños, minced 8 serrano peppers, minced

Movies To See

Here are a few movies I need to see: Brazil The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension There Will Be Blood Empire of the Sun Ghost in the Machine The Warriors Lost Boys

Comments:

Karl - Apr 2, 2009

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Also, get a copy of the old Casino Royale…

Karl - May 1, 2009

Also see Public Enemy and Little Caesar.

Chiltepin Batch 1 Day 1

I planted 10 of my Chiltepin seeds today. At Lowes, I picked up some seedling mix, a 11.5" clay dish and a 10" plastic dish insert.

These are chili peppers that are used to dry climates, and several websites I’ve seen suggest the seeds should not be watered too much. To avoid problems with overwatering, I poked holes in the bottom of the plastic dish, filled the clay dish with sand, then put the plastic dish containing the soil on top. The sand will allow water to drain out of the plastic dish, but might let the soil in the dish reabsorb the water if it gets too dry. Also, the sand might hold heat better than just air, and air was the alternative had I placed rocks between the plastic and clay dishes. Only one half of the plastic dish has holes in it, the other side is completely intact. I’ve placed 5 seeds on each side, and if/when they germinate, maybe I can tell whether the holes matter at all.

WWI

Grenade in Foxhole
Hopeful glance at other man
Bend to throw, heads bump!

Public Service Announcement

PSA: Don’t follow Starbucks’ directions for making coffee if you like it black.

Backstory: I usually make four cups of coffee whenever I need some. I’m feeling particularly lazy (it’s a Saturday and I got excused from going into the office to get shot at) and I’d like to get some exercise, so I put a pot on. That’s four cups based on the coffee pot markings. Starbucks’ directions say use 2 Tbsp (10 grams) per 6 fl oz. water. I use a 1/8 cup scoop, so that’s one scoop per 6 oz. I measured the markings on the pot, and they indicate about 5 oz. per cup, at least to the 4 cup and 6 cup markings. It’s a Mr. Coffee given to me by an ex-girlfriend.

Ahhnold

Why does Arnold Schwarzenegger rock so much? I’m sitting on the couch, watching True Lies and Jamie Lee Curtis is trying to screw around with another man. Why? Because she doesn’t know the true Arnold. For those who haven’t seen the movie, Schwarzenwhatever is a spy for the US. Come on, ladies love that kinda stuff, right? Anyway, what is Curtis thinking?

Then there’s his other movie. Commando. What is the most awesome part of Commando? I think the correct question is, what isn’t the most awesome part of Commando. Arnold is an ex-Army commando-Colonel who trained a bunch of special forces geeks. Special forces geeks you say? Yes. One wears t-shirt chain mail the entire movie. The rest of them get killed right at the beginning.

Cool Story Ideas (a.k.a. First Post)

Ok, so tonight, lying in bed, I had a few cool story ideas. If someone steals these to make a book, well, congratulations, your mind is as insane as mine. Plus, you have to send me one free review copy. That’s all I ask.

1. The important part here is that an entire story line gets planned out (the story line doesn’t matter right now) and it’s a five book series. The author writes the fifth book first, and he (I’m a guy) writes it as if it’s the only one that’s going to be written, and no previous books are planned. This way, I can write a cool sci-fi book (I’ll describe the plot in a second) and get all the sci-fi fans (sci-fi rocks) hooked on my series, then backtrack and show them another type of story I think they’ll find interesting as well. See, after the book takes off, the author can go back and write the prequels, starting with the first (in reverse order would just be confusing, plus, it was kinda cool how the star wars movies worked out where you knew what was going to happen, and you knew Anakin was a cool little kid, but then wondered how the heck he was going to become so evil (I didn’t just ruin that for anyone, did I? (three parenthesis in one? and for so long? insane!))). Ok, now that the way the story will be written has been laid out, I’ll describe the plot.

It starts with the 2008 presidential election. Obama wins. Of course, he’ll have to have a different name. I don’t actually want Obama to win, I want Romney or McCain or Huckabee to win. Ron Paul is pretty Sierra Hotel, but I think we messed up Iraq, and we better fix it before we pull out. Anyway, in the story, Obama wins. I think he’ll actually win in real life, but this is the story we’re talking about. In it, Obama wins. How? Unprecedented use of the Internet. The 2008 presidential election marks the first time the Internet has made a huge difference in an election anyone cares about (and everyone cares about this one). It mobilized huge numbers of young voters who were interested in voting for someone who spoke to them (and who, honestly, seems pretty young even if he is in his 40s). This marks a change in the way the Internet is seen, and indeed it’s a turning point in its evolution. Some politicians want it shut down or restricted (that’s their secret agenda, you can’t actually tell anyone that’s your real agenda or you’d get laughed at while being castrated) while others want to see it grow faster than it already is, and want it to have fewer restrictions. The ones that want it shut down win out, at least in public (oh yeah, the whole first book was about how Obama used the Internet to his advantage, and the other candidates weren’t able, it can have some cool hacking parts in it too, but they’d just be side story and not have a huge impact on the way the vote turned out. We’re past the first book, now).