Backdoors

This one is mind-bogglingly stupid. But the story serves as a good example of what I mean when I say that computer security can only get so good, because the whole ecosystem is so thoroughly undermined that any effort to secure it can be over-topped by the attackers, with minimal additional effort.

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Making Habaki – 2

It’s very relaxing and satisfying to sit, with some music playing in the background, and shape a piece of silver with a file. There is none of the worry associated with rapid metal removal using a grinder; you really can’t screw things up at this speed.

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The Missing Piece Of A Puzzle

I have added another book to my recommended reading list [stderr] Nancy Isenberg’s White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. In the last few months, I have gone backward and forward through it, trying to make sense of how the facts it exposes fit with my historical understanding.

If you pay any attention to US history, you know that slavery and racism are one of the supporting institutions that have defined and shaped the United States. You cannot understand the United States without understanding slavery and racism. But, that understanding has always felt incomplete, to me; I knew there was more. Obviously, there are details, but what is the big picture?

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