itsssss our birthday, precioussssss!

[freckles_and_doubt]

...and, having fielded five phone calls, one visit (with presents), one SMS, two blog comments and four e-mails before noon, I am feeling Loved, TM. Thanks for the good wishes, all. I realise, in fact, that probably the most important reason to have a cellphone again is so that people can contact me while I'm online on the dial-up, which I am way, way too often. Conversely, the weird cell reception blank spot in our house is worst in my study, for some reason, so the first 30 seconds of any call are confused and intermittant while I dash onto the patio.

As a general spread-the-love, I feel impelled to pass on a site recently recommended to me by Dylan (strictly for D&D players, alas, many 1st ed/3rd ed injokes). The Order of the Stick.

And, a quick correction. When counting up my book stash in yesterday's meme, I omitted an entire bookshelf (it's in the guestroom, camoflaged among the Evil Landlord's personal L-space). I also have about 150 books in my kiddies' collection. Total a lot closer to 2800, overall, and I think I've underestimated the ones in my office. Also, the most recent book I've read is, in fact, Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart, which I read last night in the bath. (Why, yes, I do read ridiculously fast and have ridiculously long baths). Almost unbearably fragile and delicately-written novel, necessitating the use of words such as poignant, melancholy, fractured and alienated in quantifying it. Also, the more I read Murakami, the less I am able to believe that I am actually capable of writing anything worthwhile at all. Damned depressing man.

Tonight, off to Hussar for Steak, TM; the small/expensive celebration, in sharp contradistinction to tomorrow's Large Raucous Party. Note to attendees tonight: there shall be no singing! None, I say!

Comments

Yay, you're older than me for a quarter ;)

[rumint.livejournal.com]

Happy b'earthday wishes from the London claws krew, enjoy the steak, doubtlessly far better than anything hereabouts.Mmm, good Hussar memories.

Birtday fishes would have been more timely, but some little sod DoS'd the security conference wireless network with a synflood. He is being hunted as we speak...

A

Re: Yay, you're older than me for a quarter ;)

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the good wishes, fellow Great Old One! :> Steak was excellent, although Hussar's service has gone horrible downhill since last we ate there - took an hour and a half for our first courses to arrive. Consequently much alcohol was consumed.

Birtday fishes would have been more timely, but some little sod DoS'd the security conference wireless network with a synflood. He is being hunted as we speak...

OK, that sounds...um, terrifying and cryptic, if not downright occult. I get that someone tied up the conference system with a denial of service attack (and may I add, callously, hee, irony), but what's a synflood? Enquiring English literary minds want to know.

Re: Yay, you're older than me for a quarter ;)

[rumint.livejournal.com]

Occult indeed. ironic, yes. Bright, no - as he will now be thrown out of the conference, losing his $4000 course fee and any hope of future qualification - the attack violated the code of ethics he'd signed to be given the attack tools. Foolish too, as tomorrow is the capture the flag day when everyone has free rein to hack the test network to their hearts content, with the chance to win prizes and peer acclaim by doing it faster and more subtly than anyone else. Our current record for hacking a fully patched system is 8 seconds...I'll post this weekends results on my blog next week.

For the enquiring minds, a synflood is one of the oldest and most common types of denial of service. TCP network sessions (the normal network protocol used on the internet) start with a 3-way handshake SYN-SYN/ACK-ACK for the sender and receiver to start their discussion. A synflood attack is when the attacker keeps starting a conversation and then failing to complete the handshake, leaving the listener waiting - like a twit running around a party shouting 'knock, knock' repeatedly, - lots of people reply 'who's there?' and wait in anticipation for the rest of the joke that never comes. Eventually all other conversation dies as everyone is waiting. Humans figure this sort of thing out fast, and ignore the joker after a while, but computers lack that intelligence, and will keep falling for it without help. Which is where the security geek comes in.

Re: Yay, you're older than me for a quarter ;)

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Foolish too, as tomorrow is the capture the flag day when everyone has free rein to hack the test network to their hearts content, with the chance to win prizes and peer acclaim by doing it faster and more subtly than anyone else.

Face it, you security types are just a big bunch of legalised hackers :>. I really like the attitude, it's cool. Although, in this particular case, I agree that the DoS hacker was plain stupid. One could respect the attack as an outside gesture by a hacker doing a quick up-yours to the security establishment, but this dude is simply hacking himself in the foot.