Random musings
As most of us know, there are several problems/quirks/flaws with Javascript and this is known as the Javascript problem. However, like it or not, as long as we use browsers, we need Javascript. So, what is the solution? Pick your favorite language (hope it is not Javascript!) and hope that there is a transpiler that … Read more
I read an article titled Frequent password changes are the enemy of security which I find misleading and missing the point. In this article, Carnegie Mellon University professor Lorrie Cranor, who became chief technologist at FTC challenges FTC’s advice FTC’s advice: Encourage your loved ones to change passwords often, making them long, strong, and unique. … Read more
Elliptic Curve Cryptography: computing shared key If Alice and Bob want to exchange encrypted messages, they need to first agree on a Key. This shared key (also known as symmetric key) will be used to by both parties to encrypt messages. There are many ways of arriving at the shared key (including the old fashioned … Read more
Microsoft and Nokia missed the boat on tablets and smartphones. Microsoft’s Surface RT tablets were priced very high, and there were not many takers, with the result that Microsoft wrote off 900 million dollars as inventory adjustment. Nokia Lumia line with Windows Phone OS has been well received. Microsoft has bought Nokia’s struggling phone business. … Read more
VPS (Virtual private server) hosting that costs less than typical shared-hosting? Sounds too good to be true? I wondered about this and raised this issue a while back on the forum and got replies from the management and comments from others. It is true. The VPS provider is the relatively newer kid on the block … Read more
There is no substitute for detailed code reviews, more so if the code is related to security. Any changes to such code, however minor, should be reviewed. However, in addition, it also helps if the compiler, tools etc can help in flagging potential errors. Take the case of the very serious security error in ios/mac … Read more
Google’s motto is Do no evil. But they are disingenuous — they do some evil. Say for e.g. your child has a project on Eiffel tower — and these days all school projects require an internet connection and color printer so that children can cut and paste pictures, articles from the web and print a … Read more
If you work in the computer security area, it is like drinking from the fire hose, what with the daily revelations about snooping and spying by the NSA. So much to talk, write and discuss. Comedians (and their writers) get excited when interesting politicians become newsmakers, as it makes their jobs much easier and more … Read more
There are helluva lot more Consumers when compared to Producers, which is to be expected. For consuming content — youtube videos, movies, music, news etc, an ipad, android or windows tablet will suffice; keyboard input will be minimal and so a virtual keyboard will do.Voice input is also an option but has restrictions as it … Read more
If you are not using lastpass to manage your passwords, you should. I had written some blog articles on lastpass. Now lastpass has added support for using Google Authenticator as the second factor in multi-factor authentication. The first factor in the 2-factor authentication is "what you know" which is a password — the master password … Read more