cat >/dev/null_

It is on days like these that I really wish someone stood in front of me and took the force of the blow.

You know you’re old and wise… well, let me rephrase that:

you know you’re old and you hope you’re getting wiser,

when you are not affected by the latest vulnerability because your key predates it!

Good thing I didn’t follow my resolution to refresh my key.

A few days ago, Schneier wrote:

Security requires a particular mindset. Security professionals — at least the good ones — see the world differently. They can’t walk into a store without noticing how they might shoplift. They can’t use a computer without wondering about the security vulnerabilities. They can’t vote without trying to figure out how to vote twice. They just can’t help it.

Me, I don’t know if I’m a good one. Sure thing I just can’t help it.

<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<mmc_consolefile ConsoleVersion=”2.0″ ProgramMode=”Author”>
[...]
<binarystorage>
<binary>
SUwBAQIAAwAEABAAEAD/////CQD//////////0JN
NgQAAAAAAAA2BAAAKAAAAEAAAAAQAAAAAQAI
AAAAAAAABAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAIAAAIAAAACAgACAAAAAgACAAICAAADA
….

Disclaimer: I have absolutely no idea what these binary fields are there for. Probably there is reason enough. Pfft.

the fact that you don’t have a clue does not necessarily mean the truth does not exist.

If you wrestle a pig, you only get dirty; the pig has all the fun.

Dharma, Dharma & Greg – The House That Dharma Built (2×11)

I’m going to share a secret with you.

Do you want to know how to make your computer work forever??

I know it sounds impossible, but it’s actually quite easy. Well, probably not that easy, but definitely possible. It amounts to two simple rules:

1. Keep your backups up to date. This is the most important. As soon as your backups are not in sync, your old computer will fail. And I mean instantly.
2. Plan to buy a new, more powerful or otherwise better computer, every single time you turn old faithful on. This is another key requirement. The slightest concession will lead to failure.

Trust me. Two years and counting. I had my last failure two days ago: a new power brick, and back here I am. My notebook will never die… as long as I follow the two golden rules.

I just wrote a very small plugin for the WordPress content management system. It’s called “KISS-Subscriber” and it implements a very basic lock on post contents for unauthenticated users, based on a custom field value. It is liberally inspired from WP-Members by Chad Butler.

Let’s see if it crashes the site… If it doesn’t, I’ll soon start posting restricted articles.