The Actuator – August 22nd

sqlrockstar over 5 years ago 1 minute read time

Getting ready for VMworld next week, working on my presentations, demos, and buying new shoes. If you are in Vegas for the show, stop by the booth to grab some swag and say hello.

As always, here are some links from the Intertubz that I hope will hold your interest. Enjoy!

An 11-year-old changed election results on a replica Florida state website in under 10 minutes

This either says a lot about the election websites, or the skills of the kids. Probably a little bit of both.

LHC physicists embrace brute-force approach to particle hunt

Nice example of not being afraid to admit what you have been doing isn’t working, and to try something different. The LHC is an example of a project that will benefit from quantum computing, look for that to be the next step in their research.

Tesla's stock falls sharply after Elon Musk reveals 'excruciating' year

So, we all see that Musk is having a meltdown, right? Might be time for him to cut back on the number of projects he’s trying to run at this time.

Telling the Truth About Defects in Technology Should Never, Ever, Ever Be Illegal. EVER.

Agreed. I recognize that in some cases you’d like to notify the company directly and give them a chance to patch. But to discourage such research isn’t helpful. I’d like to think programs like bug bounties make for a more secure online experience overall, for everyone.

Hackers steal $13.5 million from Indian bank in global attack

If only there was a way for this bank to have known there was a defect in their software. Oh wait, there was a warning. My guess is that this bank might understand the benefits of encouraging others to find security flaws before the criminals.

Make Shadow IT a Force for Good

Good list of tips for everyone that has struggled with Shadow IT. I’m a huge advocate of zero-trust networks, and I think that’s got to be the default for every company these days.

My Favorite Sayings

Well, not mine, but ones I enjoyed reading and thought you would, too.

10 years as a Microsoft MVP and I'm just as giddy as if it was my first day. My 10-year ring arrived over the weekend, and I wanted to share:

Top Comments

Jfrazier over 5 years ago +1

LHC Physicists: I take their approach akin to something I did back in the early days of scrubbing unix syslogs for "interesting events" that were not already specifically monitored for. In other words…
rschroeder over 5 years ago +1

Kids being taught to hack--to make a better future. Kids being taught to hack--to teach web site managers/owners/users a lesson about security. Maybe we're missing teaching ethics and requiring mandatory…
rschroeder over 5 years ago +1

When banks went online, so did bank robbers. I'm old enough to remember community and neighborhood banking, where people rushed to get to the banks every other Friday before they closed, so they could…

df112 over 5 years ago

Belated congrats on 10 years as an MVP. Definitely an accomplishment to be proud of.
- Cancel
- Vote Up 0 Vote Down
- More
- Cancel
bobmarley over 5 years ago

All they had to work with 100 years ago was math, on a chalk board. Amazing that they could figure out what they did.
- Cancel
- Vote Up 0 Vote Down
- More
- Cancel
rschroeder over 5 years ago

My son's been working at the LHC for last couple of summers during his journey towards a Ph.D in Theoretical Particle Physics. I asked him why he likes the "theoretical" part better then the "applied" or "mechanical" areas of Particle Physics, and it seems it's guys like him that are (in part) responsible for it taking a hundred years to prove theories.
"Dad, I like coming up with ideas and handing them off to the mechanical physicists, whose job it is to prove or disprove theories."
I'm thinking to myself in my head "Oh, sure, leave it to the poor folks in the trenches to come up with ways of showing you're either a genius or someone who doesn't know what they're talking about."
On the other hand, some of those theories are great ones, just difficult to prove. VERY difficult, apparently.
I'm hoping the LHC or similar tools may help better explain Dark Matter. Which might give us the ability to do good things with power we never imagined possible. Maybe even within my life time.
- Cancel
- Vote Up 0 Vote Down
- More
- Cancel
ecklerwr1 over 5 years ago

The missing part of the science is the link between the world of the small and world of large... ie. the search for the unifying theorem.
- Cancel
- Vote Up 0 Vote Down
- More
- Cancel
bleggett over 5 years ago

For every one that gets caught, I would wonder how many others have been sneaking by.
- Cancel
- Vote Up 0 Vote Down
- More
- Cancel