Code and cars

Woohoo. Welcome to the first post of the blog, "Code and Cars". Perhaps I'll find a better name for it, but for now, it works. Yes, I know I'm over 7 years late on the craze. Truth be told, I don't really like the term blog. But if the shoe fits...

So where to begin? The reason for this site? The shortest answer is that I found myself replying in other's journals with long, drawn-out posts, so I might as well do it somewhere nice and organized for that sort of thing.

I messed up a template setting. But by the time anyone actually reads this, this'll be solved. And while I figure this out, I might as well post again. Twice in an day! Hotcha!

On my resume, it's listed. However, the most recent major contract was primarily just Perl. And even that's been long before all the ajax and web2.0 and whizbang shiny plastic buttons. And yes, this is a lot of posts, when I could have just put only one here. But really, this ain't gonna get read (Ah, love that English! College education at work!) and I might as well get used to playing around with this.

I've been putting off posting some of these thoughts for a long while (longer than this site has been up, really), wanting to make it sound just right. But better is the enemy of good, and the lack of traffic allows me to make mistakes. So in that aspect, I want to talk about Hungarian Notation, and variable naming in code.

While I work out a few articles, and make a site worth visiting, it's awefully bare. No comments, no trackbacks, not a kipper.

I wouldn't even mind some spam comments right about now. Maybe a phisher or two. Viagra links. Anything.

Although, given the sort of audience I'm aiming for, they should spamvertise about overclocking. "B00st you.r c0mpile power!"

I'd so be there.

A while back, I was towing a car away from an impound yard. The manager of the yard was there, and noticed that I used paper to protect the car's paint from the tow light magnets. He lamented about how he could never get his employees to treat the cars nicely, and as a result, often had to pay for damages to the scratched paint. I didn't voice it at the time, but I've found the reason.

Some people think that, when keys are locked in the car, we'll bring a master key to unlock the door. Personally, the idea that each tow company would have unfettered access to keys for millions of cars is not only a logistical nightmare, but it's rather scary, given some shops. Instead, we have a few tools and an instruction booklet, and break into a car the same way a car thief would. With the right tools, I can get into most cars from minutes to seconds. That's one skill that they never really teach you in software engineering. I have a saying of, "I didn't sign up to break into cars. It's more of a perk, really." It's great fun, really, and it's a good reminder of some fundamental rules about security.

DISCLAIMER: These articles contain information on car security, but all the information here is freely available elsewhere or with simple common sense (A rock breaks a window). The issues listed are purely for educational purposes, as examples of real-world security issues that can be applied to software analogies. Don't try this at home, because you can easily damage your car if it's done improperly, and laws regarding possession and sales of the tools vary.

This is part two of "How to secure your code while breaking into a Ford." So far, the lessons have been that physical access is 80% of total access and even then, there's such a thing as too secure when legitimate users are just as excluded as illegitimate. In general, car alarms that require people's actions in are ineffective. Those that make it easier for valid users to access, or that add another layer of protection to annoy, but not make it impossible, are two ideal paths. And even so, a little bit of protection, applied in the right spot, can be much more effective than expensive, highly visible solutions.

I must admit, I started writing "You are not their customer" after beginning "How to secure your code." And I haven't exactly made this into securing code. So what do all these bits on breaking into cars mean? On the disclaimer side, nothing I've mentioned are really important secrets. A bit of common sense or a trip to a junkyard would give away all these bits. I doubt my comments will make Ford increase their security, or get VW to restore a passenger-side lock. Frankly, I don't mind that Fords are insecure, because it means my job is easier.

In a long time ago (Has it really been a decade?) in a chip-set far, far away, there lived an operating system. It lacked some advanced things, like memory protection, and preemptive multitasking. But what it lacked in architecture, it made up in user interface.

With each release of Mac OS X, things have gotten faster, better, and at the same time, slowly regaining some of the niceties we lost in going from 9.2 to 10.0. 10.2 had the spring-loaded folders. 10.3 returned more finder preferences. 10.4 resurrected desk accessories in the form of dashboard. And 10.5 has piles.

This article series has gone on longer than I expected, but in retrospect, it might be useful to cover car security for its own sake. I don't intend to scare anyone away from a car, as car security should be a lower priority than issues of safety, reliability, economy, and ease of use when making a decision. But once you have your car, it's good to know its strengths and weaknesses.

Well, Google's finally found this site. I do have a few more articles in the pipeline, and I should go back and fix the grammar errors in the previous ones. Not to mention actual coding to do on my project. But it's time for celebration of sorts. I've got spam.

I joked about it earlier, but sure enough, 7 out of 8 comments as of this writing are for pill-pushing sites, and another one I can't quite make out. At any rate, I've removed the links, but kept the comments. And now, it's time to install an anti-spam technique or two.

UPDATE: On second thought, the spam isn't cute enough to keep.