Archive for July, 2012
I have no joke here, I just like saying…
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012-1 day DEFCON 20 notes
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012Lawrence observed yesterday:
So this is interesting:
N.B.: This is at Black Hat, not DEFCON. For those who might be confused, I like Borepatch’s description of Black Hat as “more corporate and buttoned down”: basically, they are different conferences, but with considerable overlap. Looking further into the Black Hat schedule, though, it looks like De Atley’s presentation isn’t the only one on IOS security issues.
My understanding is that the organizers try to keep a certain level of separation between Black Hat and DEFCON: why pay $1,500 for Black Hat if all the panels are duplicated at DEFCON for less? Not that there aren’t panels common to both, but it seems that your presentation has to be pretty high quality, sensational, or both in order to get accepted to Black Hat and DEFCON.
Which in turn makes me wonder: given the popularity of IOS devices, did the organizers segregate all the Apple panels at Black Hat, in an attempt to give folks more of an incentive to attend?
I don’t know: this is all purely speculative, and there’s nothing wrong with it anyway. I’m just wondering…
Random notes: July 24, 2012.
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012Obit watch: Sally Ride.
Previously noted, but bears repeating: The Lustgarten Foundation for pancreatic cancer research.
Noted without comment. (See also.) (See also.) (See also.)
More:
I’m fascinated by the events in Anaheim, but I don’t know what to make of them right now. (More here.)
Art, damn it, art! watch (#31 in a series)
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012This story has gotten a fair amount of attention elsewhere, but I want to highlight one aspect of it.
Ileana Sonnabend was a noted NYC art dealer who passed away in 2007. Her children inherited her art collection, which was valued at $1 billion. So far, her heirs have paid $471 million in estate taxes on the collection, selling off a large part of it to do so.
One of the pieces in the collection is a Robert Rauschenberg piece called “Canyon”.
The IRS values “Canyon” at $65 million, and wants the family to pay $29.2 million in tax.
But doesn’t the fact that the work can’t be sold make it of zero value anyway? Sort of by definition? And is Ms. Barron confusing aesthetic value with market value?
-2 Day DEFCON 20 notes.
Monday, July 23rd, 2012The schedule for DEFCON 20 is up.
Lawrence reminded me on Saturday that I also had not solicited panel requests, so this is your pre-DEFCON 20 post.
I’m flying out Wednesday morning and getting to Las Vegas around 1 PM. I’m hoping to visit the Mob Museum (just because it is new since my last visit, and I haven’t seen it) and to make a return trip to the two bookstores I visited last year. Lotus of Siam is also required.
There is some stuff going on at DEFCON on Thursday:
- “Breaking Wireless Encryption Keys“: I’m generally familiar with the how-to of breaking WEP, and the attacks against WPA. I keep meaning to set up a lab and do some WEP attacks, but I never get around to it (always something else going on), and I’ve never actually seen it done, so this panel intrigues me.
- “Intro to Digital Forensics: Tools & Tactics“: Another possibility. My experience with forensic tools is weak.
- “HF skiddies suck, don’t be one. Learn some basic Python.“: A maybe, more for the Python angle than anything else.
Here’s what I’m interested in on Friday:
- “Making Sense of Static – New Tools for Hacking GPS“: As you know, Bob, I’m fascinated by GPS, and I’m curious to see what these guys come up with.
- “Not So Super Notes, How Well Does US Dollar Note Security Prevent Counterfeiting?“: I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but I have an academic fascination with counterfeiting. Then again, who isn’t attracted to the idea of making your own money?
- “How to Hack VMware vCenter Server in 60 Seconds“: I have to work with VMware from time to time in my real job, so…
- “Bypassing Endpoint Security for $20 or Less“: I like cheap.
- “Safes and Containers: Insecurity Design Excellence“: “…design issues that allow locks and safes to be opened in seconds, focusing on consumer-level containers that are specified as secure for storing valuables and weapons, and in-room hotel safes that travelers rely upon.” Enough said.
Saturday, we have a possible tie for this year’s “Hippie, PLEASE” panel:
- “Twenty Years Back, Twenty Years Ahead: The Arc of DEF CON Past and Future“: the description doesn’t sound all that obnoxious, but Richard Thieme is a multiple past–winner of the “Hippie, PLEASE” DEFCON panel award.
- And, “Beyond the War on General Purpose Computing: What’s Inside the Box?” by none other than C*ry D*ctr*w.
I shan’t be attending either. The Saturday panels I am interested in:
- Either “Creating an A1 Security Kernel in the 1980s (Using “Stone Knives and Bear Skins”)” or “Defeating PPTP VPNs and WPA2 Enterprise with MS-CHAPv2“: I do kind of like historical perspective panels, but I’m also really interested in the MS-CHAP attack.
- “Exploit Archaeology: Raiders of the Lost Payphones“: Payphones? PAYPHONES? Apparently, those are still a thing you can attack. (“Stamp Out Hash Corruption! Crack All The Things” does deserve a nod, though, for the Hyperbole and a Half reference.)
- “Into the Droid: Gaining Access to Android User Data“: Android hacking is still hot.
- “Off-Grid Communications with Android: Meshing the Mobile World“: I like the idea of “Smart Phone AdHoc Networks”, if for no other reason than as a fallback in case of disaster.
- “The Safety Dance – Wardriving the Public Safety Band“: I’ve kind of dropped away from it, but I used to be a scanner/shortwave geek, and this panel has me curious.
- “Black Ops” or “Hacker + Airplanes = No Good Can Come Of This“: I’m a big fan of both Dan Kaminsky and Renderman, and I really really want to see both of these panels. I’ll probably hit Kaminsky’s panel unless I can’t get in. And I do resent the fact that DEFCON scheduled these two panels against each other. (“Spy vs Spy: Spying on Mobile Device Spyware” also sounds fun, but given a choice, I’ll take Kaminsky or Renderman.)
- “Busting the BARR: Tracking “Untrackable” Private Aircraft for Fun & Profit“: This will depend on how I feel at the end of the day: I’m kind of interested, and I think a couple of my friends will be as well, but if I’m feeling wore out, I may skip it. I’m also kind of curious about “The Darknet of Things, Building Sensor Networks That Do Your Bidding“: mostly I want to see if these guys are Arduino-based, and if they are, I might hit that instead.
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Live at DEFCON 20! Nitro-burning FUNNY CARS!
- “SIGINT and Traffic Analysis for the Rest of Us“: I’m also a big fan of Matt Blaze. As an ex-radio geek I’m interested in SIGINT. And I’ve read the P25 paper, so this pushes several buttons at once.
- “SCADA HMI and Microsoft Bob: Modern Authentication Flaws With a 90’s Flavor“: SCADA: hot. Plus gratuitous Microsoft Bob reference.
- “Owning the Network: Adventures in Router Rootkits“. Seems like the best thing going on in that slot at that time.
- “Hacking [Redacted] Routers“: See above.
- “SQL Injection to MIPS Overflows: Rooting SOHO Routers“: See previous two entries. At this point, I may be routered-out, so I reserve the right to skip this one.
- “Hacking the Google TV“: This might be my only chance to see someone hack what, so far, has been a total failure.
- Pretty much have to go to the closing ceremonies.
So that’s that. If anyone has any specific panel requests after looking over the posted schedule, let me know (by email on in the comments), and I’ll try to hit those events. Also, if anyone has any recommendations for new, cool, or interesting places to eat in Vegas, feel free to leave those in comments.
(Edited to add: It’s a Borepatch-o-lanche! Thank you, brother man!)
We can’t make doughnut jokes any more.
Thursday, July 19th, 2012But we can make burrito jokes. TJIC, call your office, please.
The popularity of this Chipolte among the NYPD might – just might – have something to do with the 50% discount they give to uniformed officers. Of course, accepting this discount violates NYPD policy, or so the department says. However, offering the discount does not violate Chipolte’s policy, according to a spokesman for the chain.
Quote of the day.
Thursday, July 19th, 2012I want my two dollars!
Thursday, July 19th, 2012Back in 2008, Austin Energy (the city’s electric utility) made a deal with Nacogdoches Power LLC to purchase the entire output of a proposed new power plant. The key here was that the new power plant would produce electricity from burning “wood waste”, a renewable resource, and thus would avoid potential federal taxes on carbon-based fuels.
This was not a popular decision at the time. Even the local environmental activists were opposed to the plant. Many people felt the city wasn’t releasing all the relevant information and was rushing into the deal.
The plant went live yesterday.
More:
Austin Energy is currently paying “a little more than” 4 cents a kilowatt hour for “coastal wind” power. If I’m reading the article correctly, natural gas is running at about 2 cents per kilowatt hour.
Sometimes, the questions are hard.
Thursday, July 19th, 2012And sometimes there’s not an easy answer.
What is justice?
What is redemption? How do we decide when a person is redeemed? Are there crimes that are beyond redemption?
What is the purpose of prison? What should our goals be when we lock people up? Protection of society? Punishment? Reform?
How should we treat young people who commit horrible crimes? Do we lock them away for life? Do we give them a chance to reform? What if we’re wrong, and reform doesn’t take?
Greg Ousley is serving a 60 year sentence in the Indiana prison system. He’s been there since 1994. In that time, he’s earned a degree in liberal arts from Indiana State (summa cum laude, no less). The corrections staff at his prison apparently thinks the world of Mr. Ousley.
His former work supervisor, Cindy Estes, was more explicit. “This kid has jumped through every hoop the state has put in front of him,” she told me. “He deserves to come out. There’s absolutely nothing to be gained by keeping him in there for another 10 years.”
He’ll be eligible for parole in March of 2019, unless a judge agrees to modify his sentence.
What did Mr. Ousley do? At the age of 14, he shotgunned his parents to death.
I don’t know what to do with Mr. Ousley. I don’t claim to know whether he’s reformed enough that he deserves to be let out. I don’t have answers to those questions. The only thing I have is the knowledge that I’m glad I don’t work in the justice system, because I don’t have those answers.
What the frack is wrong with you people?
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012Not “you people” as in my regular readers. I’m sure you’re all tall, strong, above average in IQ, and every one of your bodily functions smells like a vanilla Glade plug-in.
No, I’m talking about the rest of the Internet who doesn’t read my blog and seems to be overrun with a massive sense of entitlement.
Item 1: The existence of the GR Bullies site. “GR Bullies” is apparently a website devoted to combating “bullying” on the GoodReads website (for values of “bullying” that seem to include posting negative reviews) by…acting like misogynistic bullies themselves. Good plan, guys; I’m sure Big Fred Nietzsche would approve. Or maybe not. I commend to your attention the take of John Scalzi, an actual professional writer who gets bad reviews from time to time, on this subject. (I also recommend reading the other three writers Scalzi links.)
Item 2: The existence of ChickLitGirls, a site that takes money for reviews, only posts positive reviews, and, when it is politely suggested that their pay-for-review policy may not be 100% clear, issues bumptious lawsuit threats.
(“bumptious”. Such a great word. I need to work that into my vocabulary, along with “gargantuan“.)
Item 3: “How dare you think Dark Knight Rises isn’t the greatest thing since the invention of fire?”
Item 4: “…those like my son who have disabilities have the right to live life with access to everything people who aren’t handicapped do.” So, therefore, Netflix is obligated to closed-caption streaming video. And, no, providing closed-captioned DVDs isn’t good enough. I am so sick and tired of hearing people like Ellen Seidman talk about “rights” without making a distinction between liberty rights and claim rights.
There are some things that should require accommodation; for example, access to governmental services. And it may be good business for Netflix to make this kind of accommodation. Right now, Netflix feels that it isn’t. (As other people have pointed out, Netflix gets the material it uses for streaming from studios, that material probably does not have closed captions, and the studios would be rightfully upset if Netflix started altering their property.) If you want to prove to Netflix that they’re wrong, don’t use the service, or start your own competing service with closed captions. If Netflix looses enough business, they’ll change their mind. But you don’t have a right to closed captioned streaming video, or, for that matter, to “access to everything people who aren’t handicapped do”. Down this path lies madness: should we build a wheelchair ramp to the top of Half Dome?
[Edited to add: Hattip on item 4 to Walter Olson at Overlawyered.]
Banana republicans watch: July 18, 2012.
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012Joe Wolfe has either resigned or been fired from the Fullerton, CA police department. Former Officer Wolfe was involved in the (warning!) Kelly Thomas beating death (as always, graphic image warning at that link), but has not yet been charged with a crime.
Add Compton to the bankruptcy watch. With a $42 million deficit, I doubt even a tax on rap groups with platinum records will help.
…the city has consistently fallen behind on payments to vendors, including its sheriff’s contract.
Remember when Compton was talking about reopening the Compton PD and spent $1 million on “equipment” before giving up? Good times, good times.
I’ve avoided blogging this next story because I felt like there was a limit to what my readers (many thanks to both of you) would put up with. Surprisingly to me, though, these banana republican updates have been among the most popular recent posts on my blog. You put up something thoughtful and original, and it gets ignored, but people seem to love California political corruption.
Anyway, there’s an ongoing case involving the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and accusations of bribes and kickbacks. The Coliseum is nearly broke, and USC is in talks to take it over.
A bunch of people have been indicted in the case. Former “general manager” Patrick Lynch has already pled to conflict of interest charges and agreed to repay $385,000 he got from a man named Tony Estrada.
Estrada is a former contractor with the Coliseum, and has been charged with “embezzlement and conspiracy”. Estrada is also a fugitive from justice.
Today’s LAT has an interview with the fugitive Mr. Estrada.
Tony Estrada, rocking the ski mask.
No joke. Mr. Estrada claims to be “somewhere in South America”; the interviews that make up the story were conducted by telephone and over Skype. (It is unclear to me how the LAT verified that the man in the mask was actually Estrada.)
And:
This just in: our old friend Cudahy City Councilman Osvaldo Conde (of the bimbo and the badge) has agreed to plead guilty to extortion and bribery. Actually, make that former city councilman: Conde resigned yesterday.
Conde is the last of the three indicted city officials (the others being former Mayor David Silva and former code enforcement head Angel Perales) to take a plea in the case.
Guns, guns, guns!
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012(This is also partially an Olympic watch.)
We’re the only ones professional enough…to shoot ourselves while cleaning our weapons.
The HouChron has a nice profile of Sergeant Glenn Eller, of the Army Marksmanship Unit. Sgt. Eller is competing in the shotgun double trap competition in the London Olympics. This is his fourth time at the rodeo; he won a gold medal in double trap in 2008. And he’s had an interesting time of it:
- In 2000, he got food poisoning from “an Australian ham salad sandwich” and finished 12th.
- In 2004, he finished 17th “after being informed before the competition of what proved to be a false positive drug test”.
- He won the gold medal in 2008, but the shotgun he used was stolen in 2011 while he was on his way to another competition. It took him a while to get used to the replacement gun, and he “…lost the automatic U.S. slot in double trap to his Army teammate, Staff Sgt. Josh Richmond, but won a place on the team when a second berth for the London Games opened up this spring.”
Worth noting:
You know, I like these AMU guys. It’d be fun to meet some of them and hang out. I wonder if the AMU will have a presence at next year’s NRA meeting?
(Joy! Also speaking of the AMU, Amazon says my copy of US Military Match and Marksmanship Automatic Pistols