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ef47d35620c1on Linux file write patterns: So you want to write to a file fast

I've had very good reliability from my SSD drives as well. Some have been running almost continuously since 2009.

ef47d35620c1on The slow death of purposeless walking

I'm learning to do this again. At first, I had to make myself, but now I really enjoy it. I typically walk during lunch and in the evenings, just for the sake of walking and thinking. I find that it reduces stress and helps me to think more clearly.

ef47d35620c1on GNU Screen v.4.2.1

tmux is included in OpenBSD base too. So if you use OpenBSD, it's there by default.

ef47d35620c1on Tails 1.0 is out

You could also remove the hard drive. It's very easy to do and would prevent any accidental write.

ef47d35620c1on Stanford study finds walking improves creativity

I very much agree. When that happens to me, it's usually because I'm thinking about the issue in the wrong way because of how I have read (or perceived) the code and how I think the code should be. Wrong notions, assumptions, etc. Getting away from the code, allows me to carefully focus only on the problem. Then things become clear.

ef47d35620c1on Symptoms of Dysfunction in Software Teams

The post was deleted, but it implied that all software closes TCP with a FIN. Some software sends a RST, no FIN.

The issue is that the answer is relative. There are no absolutes. So yes, it does depend and yes there is always an explanation as to why it depends. Just because something works this way on this system does not mean it works the same way on that one.

To believe that something is the same everywhere on every system for every user is foolish at best and reckless at worst. And, people who think that (typically non-technologists) think that they have the answer as well... let's rewrite it to be the same everywhere. This is when all the engineers dust off their resumes and bail.

ef47d35620c1on Symptoms of Dysfunction in Software Teams

The 'it depends' answers are good and I would not cite them as evidence of a problem. You employee people who understand what they are talking about and who also understand the importance of an accurate answer. They are probably very good engineers.

How does X close a TCP connection... it depends on the operating system in question. What cipher does my browser use when talking to X website... it depends on what ciphers are supported/available and how the client/server are configured. Which router do these packets go through... it depends. Is my password secure... it depends on the string you chose, the hash type used to store the password and who the attacker is and what their resources and time frames are.

There is hardly anything absolute in technology/software. And, people who want an absolute answer are only indicating that they do not understand the fundamental complexity issues that we deal with as technologists.

ef47d35620c1on Boycott systemd

I don't know much about systemd, so I can't say either way.

So long as I can still get syslog style plain text logs, then I have no objections. Unix and text log parsing is unparalleled. If simple text log parsing and manipulation is removed (all binary with only xml or json), then I'd be very opposed to systemd.

ef47d35620c1on LibreSSL: FIPS mode is not coming back

Also, I believe that only binaries can be FIPS certified, not source code, so there are times when one has to use an old, out-dated openssl binary in order to be compliant.

ef47d35620c1on LibreSSL: FIPS mode is not coming back

That's part of the culture. It's nothing personal. Don't take it to heart if what they say offends you.

ef47d35620c1on Linux /dev/urandom and concurrency

Would a possible solution be to check how many people are using the random generator...?

One preson may have multiple processes reading from /dev/urandom.

ef47d35620c1on The Linux Security Circus: On GUI isolation

Yes. Here's a Windows keystroke logger (with source code) that uses GetAsyncKeyState. I wrote this years ago to show an IT auditor that a restricted user could run a keystroke logger (he was adamant that was not possible). It works on Windows XP to Windows 8.

http://16s.us/software/16k/

ef47d35620c1on How Americans Die

I agree, and I think that the COPD is probably worse than the cancer.

I only meant to point out that many people in affluent western countries smoke, over eat, drink excessively and do other physically unhealthy things (because they have the money) in order to reduce mental and emotional stress. If we could reduce stress in general then we'd probably live longer, healthier lives.

General social issues lead to general health issues.

ef47d35620c1on How Americans Die

I heard once that one cigarette a day as a stress relief may actually extend your life. I'm not sure about that, but I do think we need to be mentally and emotionally healthy too. Our health and well-being is not purely physical.

I would think that happy people who are not constantly under stress live longer.

ef47d35620c1on Those Who Say Code Does Not Matter

Thanks. I did not know that.

ef47d35620c1on Those Who Say Code Does Not Matter

What language is he implying to be "good"?

It's obvious that he thinks C, C++, C# and Java are bad (due to syntax). The world mostly runs on those, so I guess we're all doomed. But if they are so "bad", then what does he consider "good"? I read it, but must have missed that part.

ef47d35620c1on TrueCrypt Security Assessment [pdf]

I do not think this is significantly new as it has been documented in the official TC source code and various 3rd-party source code (TCHead, tcplay, etc.) for many years.

I was the first to crack the majority of the TrueCrypt volumes in the 2012 Defcon - Crack Me if You Can password cracking contest using TCHead running on an old Intel Celeron processor.

Write-up: http://16s.us/software/wm/Defcon/cmiyc_2012.txt

Contest Page (3rd table down): http://contest-2012.korelogic.com/stats.html

TCHead: http://16s.us/software/TCHead/

ef47d35620c1on Hacker School banning “feigned surprise” is absolutely brilliant

If I went around lording my specific domain knowledge over others, I would never learn anything new myself. What a waste of my life and human interactions that would be.

ef47d35620c1on When Life Gives You Lemons

The truth stands on its own.

ef47d35620c1on Heartbleed Alexa top 10000

It's a client problem too. Many people are over-looking that.

ef47d35620c1on The Heartbleed Bug

Secure coding is very prevalent in C++ (outside the group of old C programmers who write C++ code as if it were C). C++ is far safer than C.

ef47d35620c1on The Heartbleed Bug

Thank you for pointing out that this is not an issue in C++, only in C. There are times when we need C and one can write C code and compile it with a C++ compiler. It's an option to help ease people to modern, idiomatic C++, but please don't lump the two together. C and C++ are two entirely different languages and C++ is much safer.

ef47d35620c1on Caloric restriction reduces age-related and all-cause mortality in rhesus monkeys

I would suggest that they are only 14 years old right now, so none of them have made it to 100 yet. The truth will be know in 86 years, perhaps sooner.

ef47d35620c1on 5-year-old Ocean Beach boy exposes Microsoft Xbox vulnerability

A local news outlet in the town of Springfield doesn't typically need to place the town name in absolute terms. The locals know what they mean. Springfield is the place (right here) that they all know and love.

The onus falls on national/international news outlets to make those clarifications when necessary.

Also, for accurate weather, you should tune your radio accordingly:

    http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrbro.htm

ef47d35620c1on Fallen drone found on streets of San Francisco

The insurance company knows your boyfriend smokes now. Expect higher rates soon.

ef47d35620c1on My First Year of Coding

A degree is just a piece of paper. I have one. It has 'Phi Beta Kappa' printed on it, but most people don't know or care what that means.

When I look at it, I see a cloud full of rain. The rain drops fall on the earth and water a seed that grows into a sapling, then into a large strong tree. After that, the tree is cut down and becomes paper. So when I hold my college degree, I'm holding a cloud, some rain drops and lot's of sunshine. That's all.

ef47d35620c1on Btrees are the new black

In C++, std::set and std::map are typically implemented as RB trees. To compare the performance of those to a hash backed container, try std::unordered_set and std::unordered_map.

ef47d35620c1on OpenSSH 6.6 released

I do not. That would interfere with my experiment. My hosts stand on their own on the Internet. All account passwords are 160-bits. Have at guessing them.

ef47d35620c1on OpenSSH 6.6 released

These are not production systems, but yes, that patch logs all passwords. I only use keys.

ef47d35620c1on OpenSSH 6.6 released

Here's a one line patch to make OpenSSH log passwords:

http://16s.us/docs/sshlog/sshlog.patch

I log passwords (just as a hobby) to see what type of passwords the brute-force bots are currently using.

Here's the top 10:

    PASS COUNT
    123456 3785
    password 2531
    1234 2053
    admin 2005
    12345 1390
    root 1281
    123 1246
    1qaz2wsx 1207
    root123 1150
    passw0rd 1120

Here's the top 10 complex:

    PASS COUNT
    P@ssw0rd 1027
    1qaz@WSX 466
    !QAZ2wsx 357
    Admin@123 310
    P@$$w0rd 299
    P@ssw0rd1 177
    Admin123!@# 172
    P@ssw0rd123 166
    1qaz@WSX3edc 153
    1qazXSW@ 150

Don't use any of those passwords on your systems.

Edit: Formatting.