When it comes to host-based intrusion detection I’m most familiar with the Tripwire OpenSource Edition, while shopping around for a HIDS to deploy on a play box I decided to try AIDE. And got stopped at one of the first hurdles. Tripwire has an interactive update mechanism, it runs a scan (based on your config file) and then prompts you to except, reject or mark changes as pending - within one operation. Read on →

Due to some other, recently appearing, demands on my spare (and not so spare) time I’ve had to drastically cut back on the amount of time I spend working with different Free and Open groups. One of the biggest casualties of this has been the UKUUG. I no longer have the time available to make any meaningful contributions so I’ve stepped down from the UKUUG council. As a group they’re doing a lot of interesting work, and some great conferences, so it’s worth looking at their site every now and again. Read on →

I saw a description of Brick when I was looking for the X-Men 3 release date and it grabbed my attention pretty quickly. “A modern day film noir sit in a high-school” seemed very Whedon. And now that he’s got nothing on the air I’m finding it harder to get my regular dose of Joss. The film itself was great, very stylishly shot, featured a solid performance from the “hero” and had great dialogue. Read on →

I’m not a lawyer, so this is based on my uneducated understanding, but from what I can gather, if you use the phrase Web 2.0 in the name of a conference then O’Reilly and CMP are within their rights to send you a Cease and Desist. Even if it’s a non-profit Web 2.0 conference like IT@Cork. Who now have coverage of their event I’d kill for :) I think what’s annoyed a lot of people is that they’ve been dupped in to promoting a clumsy, easy to mock, phrase that’s never been more than a marketing term. Read on →

I’ve seen two posts today, each of them about technical events, that caught my interest and deserve a comment. The Farm on the Rails Seminar Admissions Test is something I’ve thought about in the past and never come to a conclusion about; how do you do an advanced event without pissing people off? The Pragmatic Studio’s Advanced Rails Studio approach is to ask for demonstration code, a site or a decent write up of previous experience. Read on →

If you say, “I need this by the end of today. At the absolute latest!” (or some close variation) which of these do you think is most likely outcome? I admire your spontaneous creativity and willingness to “motivate” people in to achieving your goals or I think you can’t plan for shit and have no ability to manage your time or projects? Want a hint?

Booty Call: "Booty calls can be used by one partner of an ended relationship to obtain sex from the ex-partner, due to lingering emotions and feelings of a need for continued physical connection.“ This one’s pretty obvious, it’s a replay attack. You’ve already gone through the authorisation and authentication processes and now you’re reusing previously obtained credentials to obtain access to a resource.

While I’m thinking about magazines I’m going to complain about Linux Journal. I’ve been a reader for over six years now and apart from the horrible “Cooking with Linux” columns (where Marcel Gagme badly pretends to be a French restaurateur) I’ve been happy with the content. Mick Bauer’s “Paranoid Penguin” and “At The Forge” by Reuven Lerner have long been highlights. Recently the magazines tone seems to have changed a lot. Read on →

I’ve had a couple of people ask what I do with peoples emails addresses once they’ve sent me a request to sign-up/register. In an attempt to prove I’m not making millions with them (but if you know a way, I’m open… :)) I thought I’d document the reasons I ask for email addresses and what I do with them afterwards. The reasons I ask for them are pretty simple: so I can adjust the venue if we need somewhere with a bigger capacity. Read on →

I’ve recently had to get rid of a bundle of magazine back issues, some of them from as far back as November 1999 (sysadmin mag, an article on Expect that I’ve still not read…) and I’ve decided to put a couple of rules in place to help keep things sane: Any magazine over three months old goes. No more than 20 magazines in the pile at any time. The first rule serves two purposes, it stops me saying “I’ll read that on the weekend” month after month, and it helps keep my information up to date. Read on →