WordPress Plugin: JP User Registration Blacklist

Posted by Justin A. Parr on May 15, 2014
Posted in: Wordpress Stuff. 3 comments

WordPress Plugin:  JP User Registration Blacklist

Check out my first WordPress plugin, which you can view here:

JP User Registration Blacklist

The main purpose is to prevent spammers from registering as a user of the site.

Features:

  • (Version 1.7) E-mail confirmation token
  • Asks a simple math problem during registration
  • If the user’s e-mail or IP address is listed in the Comments Blacklist (Discussion Settings), it prevents them from registering.
  • Lists the user’s IP address in the “website” field, allowing the user to see the IP from which the user registered.

Let me know what you think!

 

 

Windows XP is Undead

Posted by Justin A. Parr on April 9, 2014
Posted in: Analyses and Responses. 2 comments

Background:  Like the undead, Windows XP’s installed base continues to live, even after the Microsoft-published End-Of-Life (EOL) date of 4/8/2014.

What “End of Life” means, is that Microsoft no longer provides free updates, namely security updates, for the operating system.

Unlike other Microsoft operating systems, and due to many factors, Windows XP has a huge installed base.

This article details the XP EOL event, including the good, the bad, and how Microsoft could have handled this better.

Click here to read more!

Weight of Water

Posted by Justin A. Parr on March 18, 2014
Posted in: Math and Science. Leave a Comment

Water weighs…

8.345 pounds per gallon.

A pound is 16 ounces.  If water was 8 pounds per gallon, a gallon of water would weigh 128 ounces.

A cup is 8 fluid ounces.  Two cups is a pint, and a quart is two pints.  A quart = 8 * 4 = 32 fluid ounces.  A gallon is 4 quarts, therefore a gallon = 4 * 32 = 128 fluid ounces.

Therefore, one fluid ounce of water approximately weighs one ounce.

The actual number is 1.04 oz / fl oz, assuming that the discrepancy is due to our accuracy of measurement improving over time.

Likewise, a pint of water (2 cups, or 16 fl oz) weighs about 1 pound.

This is similar to the metric standard, where 1cc of water = 1ml = 1g.

 

The Netflix – Comcast Deal, Smart Move for Netflix, and a Win for Customers

Posted by Justin A. Parr on March 6, 2014
Posted in: Analyses and Responses. 5 comments

Overview

On Feb 23, 2014, Comcast announced a multi-year deal with Netflix aimed at improving the viewer experience of Netflix customers who use Comcast broadband services.

Comcast Press Release

http://corporate.comcast.com/news-information/news-feed/comcast-and-netflix

Although details are very limited at this point, the press release states:

…the companies have established a more direct connection between Netflix and Comcast…

There are those who are either concerned that this violates the concept of net-neutrality, or speculate that this is a “game changer” from an internet economics perspective.

In reality, this is an incredibly smart move for Netflix, and a tremendous win for Netflix / Comcast customers.

Click here to read more!

You know you need coffee when

Posted by Justin A. Parr on February 28, 2014
Posted in: The Light Side. Leave a Comment

You know you need coffee when…

  • You make a pot of coffee
  • You go to pour yourself a cup of coffee
  • A split second before you start to pour, you realize you’re holding a plate instead of a cup
  • You put the plate away and grab a cup
  • Your sleep-deprived brain flickers dimly, as you briefly note that, for the entire time you’ve owned this particular coffee cup, you’ve never noticed that they printed the picture upside-down.
  • You go to pour yourself a cup of coffee
  • A split second before you start to pour, you realize that the cup is, in fact, upside-down rather than the picture being upside-down.
  • You invert the cup, and successfully pour your coffee!

The Importance of Hashing Passwords

Posted by Justin A. Parr on February 14, 2014
Posted in: Analyses and Responses. 3 comments

Overview

The Adobe 2013 data breach, in which about 40 million account user names and other details were disclosed, as well as other data breaches in which cleartext passwords are disclosed, underscores the need for password hashing, as opposed to cleartext or encryption.

Adobe Data Breach:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/adobe-breach-impacted-at-least-38-million-users/

Cupid Media Data Breach:
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/11/cupid-media-hack-exposed-42m-passwords/

EDIT: 5/30/2014
Add eBay to the list:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2014/05/21/ebay-suffers-massive-security-breach-all-users-must-their-change-passwords/

Encryption is reversible, where hashing is not.
Click here to read more!

Top Developer Mistakes

Posted by Justin A. Parr on February 4, 2014
Posted in: Analyses and Responses. 4 comments

Background:  Even with top notch architecture, coding, and Quality Assurance (QA), it’s easy to make these simple mistakes, that once introduced in to production, can be quite costly to fix.

Production issues can cause down time, brand / reputation impact, loss of customer / end-user confidence, loss of productivity, loss of revenue, and wasted resources.

This article describes some of the more common mistakes that can be made, going from development in to production.

Click here to read more!

Free, Secure Disk Wipe Built In to Windows

Posted by Justin A. Parr on January 23, 2014
Posted in: Tech Support. 1 comment

Windows XP and above includes a free, secure disk wipe capability.

 

Background

When files are deleted, the directory entry is removed, leaving the data in-tact.  Commercial and open source software is available to recover deleted files, by finding the disk cluster chain, and restoring the original directory entry.

“Secure delete” means overwriting the cluster chains for a given file.  Likewise, a “secure wipe” overwrites all unused clusters on the drive.
Click here to read more!