Older Posts
Can you run Gigabit ethernet over 1990’s-era Category 3 cable? Opinions differ as to whether it would work fine or drive me to madness, so I decided to find out myself.
The right-wing misinformation machine really, REALLY hates electric cars. Let’s debunk some of the many lies about EVs.
I’d like to tell you about the NATO Sea Shanties dream I had last night.
Yes. Official NATO sea shanties.
I write serious articles about tech. Except when I write not serious articles about the most annoying chatterboxes in Animal Crossing New Horizons.
Writing as a guest blogger for Softlanding Solutions, I explain how the implementation of Multi-Factor Authentication is not only a critical goal to ensure your organization's security, but also a critical discussion that all stakeholders at a company need to participate in.
With this week’s revelation that the CIA sold compromised encryption devices to spy on America’s allies, and the allegations that Huawei’s technologies contain backdoors for Chinese authorities, Canada is faced with the grim reminder that our technology infrastructure may be acting as agents to foreign governments. If we wish to retain sovereignty over our own information and communications, we need to make some hard choices.
On Jan 31st, I was a brief guest on CBC’s The Current with Matt Galloway to discuss the epidemic of cell phone porting scams. You can listen to the full program on the CBC website.
Encryption is a crucial part of the technology we use every day. When governments talk about outlawing it, they're proposing a fundamental destruction of our technology infrastructure. This video explains how encryption works, and why it can't be broken in the ways that government and law enforcement want.
The video I’ve created – How Encryption Works and Why it’s So Important – is the culmination of months of work. Thanks for watching it!
After a long hiatus, I'm back to blogging with OpenMedia! Today I'm tackling the important differences between 2FA and 2-step. One keeps you safer, the other... not so much. Read on to find out more!
The solution is simple: if you don’t like something, stop watching it.
This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones – You have been warned!
It’s not your fault. Life – and the internet in particular – has conditioned you to write shitty instructions. Instructions which are ambiguous, rambling, incomplete, or insufficiently informative. So how can you fix them?
I made a Meseeks Box from Rick and Morty, complete with sound effects! If you’d like to find out how I did it, check out the Instructable I made.
As a jack-of-all-trades IT pro, I have a lengthy list of frustrations – both of the large and small variety. However, after more than 15 years working IT in a small office environment, there’s one nuisance that has come to trump all others.
VIDEO. PORTS.
My hot take in which I argue that Trash of the Titans is the best episode of The Simpsons, and more to the point, the most important and enduring.
Here's a concept: a spa and resort populated (or should I say, pupulated? ...sorry) by adorable canine companions. The ultimate answer to the cat-café. Anyway, here's some toiletries labels I created for fun.
'Tis the season for angry crows here in Metro Vancouver (they're guarding their nests – eggs and now fledglings). Inspired in part by this, and wanting to do an artistic project in Adobe Illustrator, I drew this artwork, "Zoey Crow". Zoey Crow is mad because you're too close to her nest and not readily giving up your food. Silly hoo-man.
It's an attempt to make something complicated with lots of simple shapes (mostly ellipses, triangles, and line segments). Looking at reference photos also made me realize that crows are, in their way, very colourful birds – I've tried to emphasize that here.
My website logs show that someone was looking for my now-11-year-old tutorial on making a theremin in GarageBand. Shockingly, the instrument still works after all these years (probably because its generator is so simple).
The original tutorial is provided as-is herewith. Some adjustment may be required for modern versions of GarageBand.
Over at OpenMedia, I've written a rundown on the Meltdown/Spectre CPU vulnerability: what it is, and what you can do to protect yourself from it.
Writing for OpenMedia, I respond to yesterday's accusation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security blaming North Korea for the WannaCry ransomware. And the truth is, there's plenty blame to spread around.
Everyone has one, right? Their not-so-secret list of The Worst Christmas Songs, with footnotes for each. Your mileage may vary, but this is my list – in which ten songs are definitively the WORST.
Once upon a time, there was a lowland kingdom, called Broodendam...
I ruminate on why I love the mocha, before reviewing a bunch of Vancouver coffee shops' mochas. YUM.
Today is the last day at OpenMedia for Communications Manager Meghan Sali. We're gonna miss you, Mega.
I’ve accomplished a lot in the two years since I re-launched this blog. Today however, reading the news, and reflecting on those past two years, it also sometimes feels like I haven’t done a single goddamned thing.
Welcome to the end of infosec. In the words of a fictional IT pro: Hold onto your butts.
I'm pleased to announce the launch of my next-generation journalism media empire: The Daily Newt (ie: a parody news site). With a special focus on technology, science, and politics, I have high hopes that we'll be a worthy addition to your balanced breakfast of fake news.
Misguided government policy is actively undermining your safety online, and that needs to change, SOON. Governments should be working to strengthen encryption for the safety of citizens everywhere.
I wrote a parody news piece about Theresa May, outlawing encryption, and the ridiculous end-results of such thinking. Enjoy!
