Oscillating Interest

In an effort to post a bit more here's the first entry in my No Frills series. This posts will be short, and mostly reference outside sources. So you need to access resources in a remote network like AWS or Azure, but don't want to use ssh + vim/emacs/etc or don't want to constantly be pushing commits? This solution is for you! You'll need a Unix-like environment such as Ubuntu on your server side, a terminal locally with SSH, and ideally VS Code.   First install tmux, if you're not familiar check out a tutorial like this one . This cheat sheet is very handy too! In your ~/.bashrc (or appropriate shell config file) add the following so you'll always have access to tmux easily: # Open Tmux Session immediately on SSH and exit SSH Session when exiting tmux if [[ -n "$PS1" ]] && [[ -z "$TMUX" ]] && [[ -n "$SSH_CONNECTION" ]]; then tmux attach-session -t ssh_tmux || tmux new-session -s ssh_tmux; exit; fi     Now ...

Dungeon Master's Screen artwork from Wizards of the Coast As someone who loves Dungeons & Dragons (& all sorts of tabletop RPGs) and has a decent amount of experience under my belt, I'm often asked by new or prospective DMs (Dungeon Masters) for advice. I hope I can start to compile that advice into a series of blog posts but that this one will stand well on its own! This is a decently long post, and the links I have may have many hours of content, but don't get intimidated , thinking you need to know everything before you start, I sure didn't! Instead gather some friends (ideally 3-5, any more can be overwhelming) , make characters together, and start playing ! (Check out this character sheet , I prefer it to the official one). You'll learn as you go and probably make mistakes, but that's fine, just have fun!  So You Want to Be A Dungeon Master series Table of Contents Intro Post Links to other advice givers Links to rules resources ...

Two years ago, I wrote a post specifically about passwords. However, these days there are a few more things that one should be doing to protect themselves so I will be going over a few digital security topics in this post. Wait! Don't be scared, I know security can sound hard but it doesn't have to be. I'd like this guide to be easy to follow so even someone without an interest in security can quickly start being secure online. Passwords I've covered this before but I'll summarize the post here. Password Setup Steps: Create two very strong, but easy to remember passwords for you password manager and email. You can do this by: Rolling some dice to create a Diceware Passphrase Easy creation site (use 6 words minimum!) and EFF's explanation on how/why   Use the Schneier Scheme Write down these passwords and put them in a safe place. This may sound odd, but even Bruce Shneier has said: If you can't remember your passwords, write them down a...

Image by: geralt License: CC0 Update October 29, 2019 - I tweeted a link to this and realized it was time for an update. I have switched over to iOS from Android and continue to use 1Password, it works even better on iOS. Fixed tenses/removed irrelevant/old paragraphs, and added notes about lack of sponsorship. Update January 18, 2019 - 1Password uses a monthly pricing model primarily now. I've started using 1Password instead of Keepass due to family sharing, their Watchtower service (powered by haveibeenpwned.com), and the amazing ease of use on all platforms. Update March 18, 2017 - LastPass has changed their business model and the mobile app does not require a subscription. I have also become aware of the Diceware passphrase generation technique. This post has been updated to reflect that. Preamble You can skip this section if you just want to get to the advice. NOTE: I realized I should point out to anyone reading this that I do not run ads on my site, nor a...

Background Information Ever since tablets had become popular I wanted one. The iPad looked great, but I wanted something running Android. The Nexus 10 was out of my price range at the time, and the Nexus 7 was too small of a screen, I wanted something closer to 10" for watching videos. Having set aside money for a tablet, the Nexus 9's release was perfectly timed for me. After using it for a few months I felt it was time to post a full review. I own an Android phone (HTC One m7), a desktop computer (using Chrome), and a Chromecast already and I am a regular user of Google's services, which may affect my views on the Nexus 9. The Nexus 9 I purchased was pre-ordered from the Google Play Store and is a Black, Wi-Fi only, 32GB model, shipped to Canada. Use Cases I knew I wanted something I could easily watch videos on, I also wanted something to browse the web, read PDFs without awkwardly zoom/panning and play video games on. I wasn't entirely su...

Background I decided to buy a Chromecast to replace my Raspberry Pi as a Plex client and general streaming device.  I use a few services quite regularly for watching shows and these are a requirement for me to consider a new set-top box for the TV.  My "Streaming Trinity" is:  Crunchyroll  - for legal anime subs. (Ad-based and subscription options) Netflix  - for movies, TV, and legal anime dubs (subscription) and  Plex  - for local media on my computer and I'm trying out some 'channels' as well to watch videos from official websites such as CBC and Discovery (Paid mobile apps,Free web/desktop clients, optional subscription or one-time lifetime unlock, requires a computer for a server) The Chromecast had my trinity and more so for about $50 CAD (after shipping and tax) I figured it was worth a shot! I also purchased it in the timeframe to receive $20 on Google Play (this offer is over now, sorry). I heard you can also p...

The Heartbleed bug is the trending topic online this week and I hope to consolidate some resources and explain what the issue is. The end of this post contains many links that will also help explain the situation. What is it?  It is a security vulnerability that has existed in the OpenSSL software library for two years. Heartbleed allows an attacker to read data that would otherwise be considered protected. This includes things like passwords, emails, and private keys. Unfortunately this act of reading data is undetectable, so we must assume that all passwords have been stolen and an attacker has copied all the private keys. For those unfamiliar with public-key cryptography, a private key is what identifies someone online, allowing them to read encrypted messages sent to them. This can also allows someone to pretend they are Facebook and perform other such attacks.  OpenSSL is used by the most popular web server on the internet, Apache  (approximately 66%...