Author's posts
Oct 22 2021
rebranding may not work
El Reg has commented on Facebook’s announced intention to rebrand itself in much the same way that Google introduced a new overaching company named Alphabet. In typical Reg fashion they have asked the readership what they think would be the best name. The results currently favour SPECTRE by some large margin. As usual, the Reg …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/10/22/rebranding-may-not-work/
Oct 15 2021
zuck off facebook
Or how to block the entire Facebook network. In my last post on Facebook’s misfortunes I mentioned that my wife initially blamed me, assuming it was just local and that I had made some new change to my local network configuration. Now whilst I do actually bin some of Facebook’s more annoying subdomains (such as …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/10/15/zuck-off-facebook/
Oct 04 2021
I know I shouldn’t laugh
But in what looks to me very like a DNS snafu, Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram all disappeared today for a huge swathe of users from around 16.20 UK time. Downdetector shows: (I love that big red button in the middle of the page which says “I have a problem with Facebook”. Yes I do, and …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/10/04/i-know-i-shouldnt-laugh/
Sep 09 2021
dirty laundry
I have lately been reading Charlie Stross’s excellent Laundry Files series. In that series, the main protagonist is Bob Howard, one time sysadmin for the Department of Transport, since recruited by the “Laundry” which is that part of HMG’s Security Service which deals with countering Occult Threats. Bob’s IT skills are wide, deep and varied …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/09/09/dirty-laundry/
Sep 06 2021
check2ip gone
For many years now I have used check2ip to, well, check my IP address. That service on a single page on the net gave me a quick snapshot of my current address and the DNS servers I was resolving against. I used it because I have a bunch of VPNs (and usually route my traffic …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/09/06/check2ip-gone/
Sep 04 2021
stop starttls
I have been a subscriber to Hanno Böck’s Feisty Duck TLS Newsletter for some time. Böck’s newsletters provide a useful service to TLS users. I am also a big fan of Ivan Ristić’s “Openssl cookbook” which is available as a free download from the Feistyduck website. A couple of days ago the latest Feistyduck newsletter …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/09/04/stop-starttls/
May 27 2021
nothing to hide, nothing to fear
I recently came across this rather nice (spoof) NSA site describing the work of the Agency’s “Domestic Surveillance Directorate”. That Directorate supposedly exists to protect the citizen from the usual suspects (terrorists, paedophiles, criminals) and is tasked with data collection and analysis to support that end. The site says: “Our value is founded on a …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/05/27/nothing-to-hide-nothing-to-fear/
May 15 2021
fastboot oem get_unlock_data hangs on moto g7 plus
I am posting this in the hope it may help others who find themselves in a similar position to myself. I have recently upgraded my mobile ‘phone (from a Motorola Moto X4) to a Moto G7 plus. I chose this particular phone because I like Motorolas. I like the fact that they are relatively cheap …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/05/15/fastboot-oem-get_unlock_data-hangs-on-moto-g7-plus/
May 02 2021
is it me?
I found this on flipboard. Take a look at the headline. Oh yes indeed. My browsing will be so much more private if I pass everything through a google VPN.
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/05/02/is-it-me/
Apr 29 2021
RIP Dan Kaminsky
I learned today that Dan Kaminsky died on Friday 23 April of complications arising from his diabetes. (I would probably have learned earlier if I followed twitter, but I don’t.) He was only 42. I met Kaminsky at an MSRC Bluehat Forum in 2009. He was only 30 at the time, but already widely respected, …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/04/29/rip-dan-kaminsky/
Apr 05 2021
villainous spam
Or a spammer with a sense of humour. I have very recently been hit by a spate of new spam asking me to sign up to save on a new mortgage, or change my car insurer or meet attractive asian ladies amongst other such enticements. They are all blocked now because, despite using different domain …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/04/05/villainous-spam/
Mar 26 2021
Stallman and Tor
This may be controversial. Yesterday, a member of the Tor relays mailing list posted the following to the list: “I’ve been running a relay/exit node for many years. Tor user since ~2004. To the extent that my voice means anything at all here, I would like to strongly condemn the Tor project joining the attempt …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/03/26/stallman-and-tor/
Mar 23 2021
irony bypass
Foreign Secretaries may come and go, but their inability to spot irony seems to be consistent. Back in February 2014 I commented on William Hague’s apparent concern about press restrictions in Egypt at a time when the Guardian newspaper in the UK was reporting on the threats of Legal Action they had received from the …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/03/23/irony-bypass/
Feb 12 2021
filling the void
Mark Pesce wrote a column in El Reg this week relating the story of how a friend of his had stumbled upon an example of the phenomenon noted by social media researcher Danah Boyd and Microsoft’s Michael Golebiewski as a “data void”. The particular void that Pesce’s friend had entered was around details of the …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/02/12/filling-the-void/
Jan 31 2021
no spy cameras
I have written in the past about some of the persistent requests I get for guest posts or sponsored links on trivia. I suppose I should be flattered that some people seem to think that trivia has a wide enough readership to make that sort of thing attractive (to either party), but I’m not. As …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2021/01/31/no-spy-cameras/
Dec 20 2020
Merry Christmas 2020
Shit – what a year. But let’s not go into all that. I’m a little early with this post this year. I normally mark trivia’s birthday (Dec 26th) on the day itself. This year I may not actually wish to even leave the duvet on Boxing Day so I thought I’d take the opportunity today …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/12/20/merry-christmas-2020/
Dec 01 2020
VPS comparison
My last post highlighted the astonishingly good deal I have just had from racknerd. I’ve been running VPS systems for some time now so I thought I would look back over my archived email to see what I could find about my earliest experiences. I found an invoice for a system I first rented back …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/12/01/vps-comparison/
Nov 30 2020
an even bigger bargain VPS
At about this time last year I wrote about my impressively cheap new VPS on ITLDC’s network in Prague. Prices of VPSs continue to come down and I now have several dotted around Europe which each cost me around three euros per month. But I am always on the lookout for a new provider and, …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/11/30/an-even-bigger-bargain-vps/
Nov 18 2020
from russia with malintent
Just to prove that ‘bots really are stupid, my last post below has just been hit by a spam bot. And this is what whois has to say about the source address: inetnum: 92.127.16.0 – 92.127.31.255 netname: WEBSTREAM descr: OJSC “Sibirtelecom” remarks: Kemerovo branch of the OJSC “Sibirtelecom” remarks: broadband service country: RU remarks: Direct …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/11/18/from-russia-with-malintent/
Nov 15 2020
comment spam irony
I am very careful about how, or even if, I allow comments on trivia. For example I disallow all comments on any post after a set period of time, I also refuse all comments until I have had time to read and thus moderate them. This cuts down on the type of rubbish often seen …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/11/15/comment-spam-irony/
Oct 27 2020
braindead mail service
Back in early 2019, I wrote about a problem I was having with mail from my system going to BT based accounts. At the time, BT was rejecting my mail as potential spam. As I wrote at the time, I was pleasantly surprised when the BT postmaster replied positively to my request that they investigate …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/10/27/braindead-mail-service/
Sep 11 2020
laws are made to be broken
We here in England must now limit our social interaction to the “rule of six”. Our dear, delusional, demented, certifiable, mendacious, law breaking Prime Minister says that I cannot meet in my home with more than six people – despite the fact that I can go to the Gym, or a Supermarket, or a Pub, …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/09/11/laws-are-made-to-be-broken/
Jun 06 2020
encrypting DNS on android
My previous two posts discussed the need for encrypted DNS and then how to do it on a linux desktop. I do not have any Microsoft systems so I have no idea how to approach the problem if you use any form of Windows OS, nor do I have any Apple devices so I can’t …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/06/06/encrypting-dns-on-android/
May 25 2020
encrypting DNS with dnsmasq and stubby
In my last post I explained that in order to better protect my privacy I wanted to move all my DNS requests from the existing system of clear text requests to one of encrypted requests. My existing system forwarded DNS requests from my internal dnsmasq caching servers to one of my (four) unbound resolvers and …
Permanent link to this article: https://baldric.net/2020/05/25/encrypting-dns-with-dnsmasq-and-stubby/