Archive for August 2nd, 2012

DEFCON 20 updates (round 2).

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
  • Here’s a link to the slides from Terrence Gareau’s “HF Skiddies Suck, Don’t Be One. Learn Some Basic Python” presentation. I’m not complaining, but be advised that this is a large download (620 MB ZIP file) with video and code examples. Also be advised that, based on a very brief preliminary skim of the file, there may be some NSFW material in the presentation.  (Also not a complaint, but an observation.) I’d like to thank Mr. Gareau for making this available: his presentation is the only one in the “DEFCON 101” track that I’ve found so far.
  • Added a link to Renderman‘s presentation on ADS-B hacking, “Hacker + Airplanes = No Good Can Come Of This” to the day 2 notes.
  • Josh Brashars (who is a heck of a nice guy) and I have exchanged emails, and he’s graciously allowed me to temporarily host the version of his “Exploit Archaeology: Raiders of the Lost Payphones” presentation from the DEFCON 20 DVD. Of course, iDisk no longer exists (NOT that I’m BITTER or anything) and WCD’s hosting provider/WordPress implementation has a 10 MB file size limit, so I’m using Dropbox to host this file. Let me know if it doesn’t work.

Posted in DEFCON 20, Geek, Planes, Python, Radio | Comments Closed

Banana republicans watch: August 2, 2012.

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

Randy Adams wants severance pay.

That’s Randy Adams, former police chief for the city of Bell.

That’s Randy Adams, former police chief for the city of Bell, who was making $457,000 a year and cut a deal with the city of Bell to approve his disability pension at the same time the city was hiring him.

While I was on vacation, another story broke that I didn’t have time to cover. Last year, the state of California announced that they couldn’t keep all the parks in the park system open. Citizens and municipalities in California responded by donating money and coordinating fund raising events.

It turns out that the park system actually had $54 million stashed in various accounts. And folks are peeved.

In Ventura County, supervisors Tuesday sent a letter to state officials demanding the immediate return of $50,000 earmarked to repair a crucial sewer line at McGrath State Beach near Oxnard. Last year, the state said the popular beach would close because it lacked $500,000 for the fix. Officials even urged McGrath fans to vote early and often in a Coca-Cola contest that would award $100,000 to America’s “favorite” park.

Pity the poor Stockton PD. (Well, and the Stockton Fire Department, too.)

Stockton police officers and firefighters said they haven’t been able to fill the gas tanks of their emergency vehicles because the pumps at their stations are empty.

Since the city has filed for bankruptcy, the company that was providing gas has terminated the contract.

By the way, former Stockton Police Chief Tom Morris, who served as the chief for eight months and retired at 52, is getting an annual pension from the city of $204,000.

(Hattip for that last link to Instapundit.)

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Cops, Law | 1 Comment »

I am disgusted.

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

It is 3:00 PM local time on Ice Cream Sandwich Day, and nobody has brought me my Android 4.0 tablet yet.

Posted in Android, Geek, Sarcasm | Comments Closed