Rants from the Asylum

Roller Derby in Seattle on July 18th (anyone?)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:17:48 GMT

We're heading to the seattle area the weekend of July 18th - on sat night we plan to go to the local roller derby competition.

Any of our seattle friends want to experience the fun of women's flat track derby with us?

http://www.ratcityrollergirls.com/

ping me if you want to hook up with us for this - it's a lot of fun.

Tattoo Portraits

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:36:16 GMT

We're progressing with permissions to publish the tattoo portrait pictures we took for the Rose City Rollers. Here are mine...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdxsharkey/sets/72157620119956423/

More rants on Roller Derby

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:58:11 GMT

I have to admit for the first time in a while I didn't know how to start one of these journal things. Nothing inciteful, nothing witty, nothing that did not sound like me trying to con people or sell something came to mind. Wishing never to be lumped into the same emotional partition as people who disrupt dinner at my front door with offers of saving my soul from corruption or my rugs from not being deep down clean, I wrote this opener repeatedly both on screen and mentally trying to find the way to begin. In the end, I decided.. just do it.

For those who have not seen me write about it, I've grown quite fond of merging a new found hobby (photography) with a growing addiction (roller derby). (My flickr account has several sets dedicated to the Portland team). Now I know some people disagree with this sport on principle and I won't try to defend it or convince them otherwise. Live and Let live.

For the rest, or those who might oppose it but be open to influence, I direct you to a really good article in the Oregonian:

http://www.oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2009/06/roller_derbys_rough_patch.html

Now this article was timely for me. Yesterday (Sat) I drove for 2 hours to photograph a scrimmage between our team & seattle + centralia. It was small - I think there were maybe 6 non-players from Portland present including myself. Unlike past events where a few hundred show up and things are moving like a machine, I had the chance to really *talk* to more than a few of the Portland rollergirls. They came up to me to get to know me since I am a familiar face with a camera. More than once I heard, "Oh you're Sharkey! I love your pictures we always look for them after the bouts." - That kind of affirmation is pretty darn amazing to me and makes a 2 hour drive worth it.

Then last night my better half pointed me at the above article, and the financial challenges that the Rose City Rollers are facing. It would suck if they lose their standing in the WFTDA because they cannot afford to send the travel team. So while I explore options to help them (I am wondering about if people can donate airline miles to them since they are a 501c3) here's my pitch.

If you live in Portland and have never gone, you should go. This Saturday. June 27th. Me and my better half are going - come with us; we can grab some dinner beforehand, etc.

If you have gone in the past and had fun, go again. In fact find someone(s) who you think might like it who has never gone and convince THEM to go too. Help spread the addiction. :)

Hopefully you are not reading this closing line thinking... wow I really do need this product to make my whites their whitest and bonus, it's a dessert topping too!

Photography Experiment

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:53:22 GMT

This last weekend I had a terrific opportunity. My photography saga continues along solving some problems, throwing money at others (bought a flash). But this last Sunday I had one of a good day.

For a while now I have been following a flickr group, "Marking Portland". This is an effort to capture pictures of people in PDX with tattoos. I looked through the shots with some fascination as I always have been interested in tats.

But then I was hit with an idea, another of my recent passions, roller derby, has NUMEROUS participants with a wide array of ink. I've been taking pictures for them since January, why not, instead of action shots, stretch my reach a bit and do portraits? (I am sure any experienced photogs are laughing at me right now).

So I bounced this idea of the president of the league and she LOVED it. So this past Sunday we made 2 general callouts.. one to the photographers related to derby, the other to the roller girls. We ended up with 3 distinct "studios": 1 was soft light boxes and a black back drop, the next was a hardcode strobist approach with flashes, focused flashes, etc. The last was an outside studio capitalizing on the natural sunlight. Add 5 photographers and it was an awesome learning experience.

So this week we are going to assemble the shots, put them in a restricted access area for the roller girls to all view, select the best and submit. Even though I am doubtful any of mine compare to the others, the experience and what I learned was well worth being the newb on the block for the event.

Once the pictures are cleared for public.. I'll post a link.

Hacking the system for charity (unthinkkfc)

Wed, 06 May 2009 20:41:04 GMT

So today more than few people have sent a link to me about free chicken from KFC.

http://www.unthinkkfc.com/

While looking over the add, you pay sales tax, and can only print 4. But it had me thinking.. what if people who don't eat KFC, or don't need a free meal, printed their 4 coupons and
delivered them to those who do?

Anyone see someone panhandling for cash on their way home?
Know of a place where homeless folks go for food?
Other locations where those who could use, but can't afford it, a hot meal?
Teen runaway shelters?

Yeah it might not be the most nutritionally sound meal on earth but some alternatives are far less appealing.

Food for thought...

Hyperdrive vs netbook...

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:52:10 GMT

So given that my addiction has taken off in full bloom, i've started to consider ways to really embrace this painfully expensive road to ruin.

I've been tracking some groups that cover roller derby photography and over the last few weeks switched from JPG to RAW format. The real challenge with RAW is the noticeable increase in size of pictures.

Some of the other folks who pursue this hobby recommended the Hyperdrive, a storage device made for fast transfer of pictures from SD cards to the drive.
http://www.hyperdrive.com/

As I started to look at the price for a hyperdrive I had to ask myself.. could a netbook meet the same need and then exceed the potential usage models? I can get one with an SD reader, and the same amount of storage, for around the same price.

The clincher for me was I started to find netbook tablets... this is leading me down a tempting road even further.

I don't buy anything this costly impulsively but it's now on my radar...

Oh god he bought a camera

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:06:42 GMT

I guess that meatloaf post should have included the fact that it points to a flickr account I set up.

Around December I went ahead and purchased a new SLR camera. It was something I had considered for a while and decided I had been really good all year at not spending a lot of luxuries. After a talk with my mortgage guy, my financial advisor, and the gal who deals with my retirement funds I had made good progress on all of the above so I deserved this.

Camera in hand I decided immediately on 2 topics..
dog shows so I would have something to do with Kati when I was there
derby because I found myself really entertained by the action photography from the bouts

To take pictures @ derby, you must agree to post them publically.
Thus.. pdxsharkey exists now at flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdxsharkey/

Bacon Weaved BBQ Lacquered Meatloaf

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:49:17 GMT

So when Kati gave me her meatloaf recipe to make some comfort food I happily obliged. When I made more than expected or needed I had to find a use for he surplus. What can one do to meatloaf when you have bacon and BBQ sauce in the house and 2 encouraging assistants to help?

....

http://tinyurl.com/ddeaw7

Why I hate MSFT

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:58:13 GMT

"Outlook did not start correctly last time. Do you want to start Detect & Repair"
[yes]
"Please wait while windows configures Microsfot Office SharePoint Designer 2007"
WTF!!!!!

Pictures: Rosecity Rollers January 2009

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:28:01 GMT

My first experiment in derby + camera skillz:

http://picasaweb.google.com/masonite.burn/RosecityRollersJan2409

Friends think I should move toward Flickr

New Year. New Hobby

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:12:53 GMT

So late 2008 in the middle of the snowpocalypse in Oregon I decided to reward myself with gear for a new hobby. On one hand there is the dog related events I attend with my better half. On the other hand there is women's flat track roller derby. Something to augment each was what I had in mind when I bought the Canon Rebel XSi camera.

This last weekend, it had it's first field trial at the 3rd largest dog show in the US, the Rose City Classic.

For the truly bored or overly voyeuristic pictures can be found at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Whippet.Madness
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whippet-madness

Yes. 2 URLs. slight different pictures. I am trying each of these share your pictures sites out to see how they compare.
PicasaWeb has some neat free photo-modifying tools and really
at this point to crop em, sharpen them,or do something cool like
black and white really meets my needs.

Las Vegas in August

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:15:40 GMT

We are going to Las Vegas in August, but not for the whole she-bang.

Priorities as they are, we will be there for all of Blackhat & part
of defcon. In Monday, Out Saturday morning (Rollerderby that night
in Portland - championships! www.rosecityrollers.com)

Trying something different this year - staying @ Hooters.

Why Hooters?
No it's not the boobs.. it the pool.

Hooters has a pool that they keep open later than any other
hotel - 10pm (Yeah, not as cool as the Alexis Park *was* -
apparently Alexis landed a fence around all their pools and
now have similar hours).

So for those who are going, drop me a line so I know who to
look for. If ya have not found a place Hooters is 39-69/night
(39 if you don't want to be attached to the casino *gasp*)

41 years and counting.

Wed, 21 May 2008 07:24:29 GMT

Frightening revelation to be here for 41 years.
Not exactly a mid life crisis; it's just a sobering thought.

Sex! Yes SEX!

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:30:28 GMT

Well maybe note. How about instead..
sex on the internet, the realities of porn, sexual privacy & how search
affects them all.

It's a google talk I watched while trapped at work over lunch.

It was pretty interesting from the aspect of privacy, sexuality, and
the internet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1y9ysYNCKE

Saturday am Classes

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:37:41 GMT

So for those in the know who want to go..

PCC saturday classes for your pets:
16048 natural remedies for pets 1/26
16045 pet nutrition 2/23
14616 flower remedies for your animals 3/15

I've registered. Just wish the whippets could come to class!

EVD-doh!

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 00:31:43 GMT

So the time has come to look at EVDO.

My choices are:
Novatel Merlin S720
Option GT MAX 3.6mb

As I wade through the flood of pages trying to sell me one, I'm not having
much luck with determining what is the difference and which is better.

More research is required but if anyone has advice I am open to suggestions.

Oh yeah, I think I am going to have to go with Sprint.

I miss the hum

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:03:49 GMT

Up until a few weeks ago my office cubicle shared a wall with a lab. A nice lab. I would work alongside the humm of machinery with the occasional trespass by a human who check on the machines. This all came to an abrupt end one friday when I arrived to slamming and crashing as the lab owners were rapidly packing up the place - they were given 1 days notice their lab was moving. Sadly we bid farewell to the hum.

Over the next week the large open lab space was transformed into compressed cubes - so think your worst nightmare in a 6' x 9' space. So between my office and my lab, it's about a 2 cubes (me) to 3 compressed cubes on the other side of the wall.

So moving day arrives - our new neighbors and their stuff arrive and unpack. It's not until 4 hours later (after lunch) that the horror of what has transpired is realized.

I NOW WORK NEXT TO A CALL CENTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The most evil manifestation since poison ivy rashes... scripted conversations, bitter support personnel, the most INNANE conversations amongst them when between phone calls. All of it clearly making its way over the wall.

Perhaps it should be a reminder that I should be thankful for my job.. but now that their scripts are cementing a place in my brain... I fear even my ipod and headphones will not protect me from the madness.

RAPIER 3.2 Released

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:50:24 GMT

After a month+ of polishing up the stuff my co-author wanted in the release
we finally get to push out the new version of RAPIER to its new home in
Google Code land.

http://code.google.com/p/rapier/downloads/list

I should probably make a few public announcments and such... on my own time
of course :)

"Mommy he has red hair"

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:20:16 GMT

So on a whim and a commit, I recently found myself with red hair. For those who have seen it more than a week ago, we are not talking that darker red - it's now a full on Elmo red.

Since doing this, I have been observed by more than one child with even greater fascination than usual - each, devoid of the social graces that come with prolonged exposure to other talking monkeys, audible comments something akin to 'mommy his hair is red' - which often is followed by an embarassed parent shuffling the child away.

So today I find myself in a starbucks waiting on my brakes to be repaired. my table companions are my laptop and a large passion tea - which has a semi-red color. A young blood haired boy takes notice of me... "Mommy.. he has red hair" - the usual apologetic gaze falls upon me. This time I could not resist... tea in hand I look at the child and say deadpan:

"It's what happens if you drink red drinks.."

Insert nervous laugh from mother.. smile from child (who is now probably committed to consuming every red drink til his hair is red)

Life gives you these precious moments with children infrequently.. cherish them.... *evil grin*

7 Signs your kid is a hacker

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:12:27 GMT

http://www.eweek.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=&s=25932&a=216320&po=2,00.asp?p=y

HELL-A-X

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 01:52:09 GMT

So.. new man on the team I venture down to Pasadena. Day trip up and down. The day was uneventful as I met with who I was supposed to meet with and talked about what i was supposed to talk about.

I arrived at the airport 4 hours early. Honestly stunned - all the horror stories of LA traffic - guess going to LAX @ 5pm is not a challenge.

I get there, dump off rental, shuttle over. Walk in. tapdance over the kiosk and get my ticket. At the bottom of the escalator a woman requires bording pass + identification. All's good - through I go. Up the escalator.

At the top of the escalator.. literally 4 steps off the thing.. *another* woman requiring boarding pass + id. What could have happened along that 10 second ride? It's outside my current realm of possibility short of venturing into a realm which would require a TARDIS to explain my ability to introduce risk between the top and bottom of the escalator.

So quickly I am shuffled through to the point where you strip quickly of all metal - through the beeping machine no issue. Get to my gate and procure the coveted 'spot next to a power outlet' - settle in and that is when I notice it. A man, splayed out in the middle of the walkway. He is line of sight from the TSA agents. Sitting near him, one of those guys with wheelchair (empty). Another walks right by him. The guy staggers a bit and tries to get up and is down again immediately. The ONLY people attempting to render aid.. are fellow travellers! Two more TSA agents and another wheelchair guy just blow by this guy. Finally a woman sick of it looks over at the wheelchair escorts and demands they get help. At this point the guy is crawling on hands and knees to get out of the path of people escaping the check point.

I suspect he is drunk, slurring now with the police standing over him, but some part of me was floored at how none of the airport staff lifted a finger. They did not even call anyone. These wheelchair jockey's just sat on a bench and shrugged.

I can't wait to escape this shithole. Some part of me wants to track down the guy in charge of this place and relay what transpired. But the realist in me knows nothing good will come of it.

I can't wait to be home.

Building a crime scene

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:54:24 GMT

Those in the know are aware that I put in some volunteer time within the
local police department working computer forensics for non-pedo cases.

We are looking to expand our volunteer ranks and I want something of a test
to just be comfortable that the person has an idea of what they are doing.

So my desire (plan) is to build a computer (Win XP), populate it with "evidence",
and then have them run through the whole process.

So for the techies out there.. what evidence do you think would be worth
adding? I am not wanting to go too far off the deep end - honestly so far
most cases the criminals were pretty dumb.

So far I am thinking:
- obvious documents (xls perhaps)
- web surfing habits
- "deleted" files
- maybe the artifact of a saved file then deleted
- maybe a few registry entries
- some "kiddie porn" images (i am thinking a jpg that just says "Assume this is child pornograph")
- IM logs?
- maybe a few files of odd formats, that would challenge them to figure out how to extract the content.
- *maybe* put some crypto files. I am avoiding stego I think for now, I don't want to make it impossible

Changes & the Odd Sensation of Familiarity

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 23:16:57 GMT

So it has again been a while since I opted to reveal fragments of life in this web interface.. but today I need to capture.

Last week I was evicted from my old cubical and transplanted this week to a new one. I opted for a rather unconventional office layout, and made a few additional requests (remove the lightbulbs above, etc) - all in all, mission accomplished - I now reside in a rather cavelike workspace.

But moments before I started this entry something struck me.. this whole event reminded me of freshman year college - when everyone moves into their dorm rooms for the first time:
- people arrived at varying times, with some of their stuff here and other in tow - much like college where people arrived at different times depending on where/when they started their journey to college.
- people spent time wandering around, re-establishing their own internal maps of who resides where - much like frosh year where between trips you met those in the rooms near you, your parents spoke with theirs, you were figuring out where the girls shower was and how you could string a webcam through the drop ceilings.. (nevermind, that was probably just me...)
- people begin to customize their cubes - putting in place their own small aspects of the non-cube world outside - much like frosh deck the walls with their favorite posters, move the beds, build a loft, etc.
- then people of course started to *compare* cubes.. reflecting on how some layout is cooler than others, (much like the loft/fridge envy in college)
- people start admiring your non-cube accessories (mine are a barrage of magnetic backed stickers, rude bunny posters, and the wall of defcon badges) and wishing their cube was as cool as your, or they like your monitor, etc. (again.. back to the loft envy..)
- not a great deal of work is accomplished as this task of re-establishing their cube pre-occupies their day.
- many people are chattering over walls (much like people chatting with their neighbors)
- those who were NOT part of the move generally look irritated by the disturbance (much like upper classman)
- people start pranking their new neighbors

I dunno.. maybe my college experience was unique in some of these things.. but I know you all at least were trying to figure out how to get that camera
in the girl's shower.

Price of Integrity... $200.00 (Canadian)

Tue, 01 May 2007 16:10:53 GMT

It's been a while and a recent event I kept telling myself I would share has slipped but is not as stale as that swallow of milk fermenting in the gallon container in your fridge while you are on the road just yet.

While attending CanSecWest, I had the opportunity to go out with Dragos and crew to dinner - one which he was covering. Dinner was a fixed menu (nothing to write home or in your livejournal about) and drink tickets were issued. At one point we struck up a conversation with someone near us (as you often do at these things) and they conveyed that Dragos had paid a fixed price for the festivities.

So while eating we noticed those around us were order *bottles* of Sake - when I asked the very cute (and working it) waitress about this, she said it was considered "a drink" so Dragos was okay with this. So.. what the heck - we ordered one. After a few rounds, and sending a round to the sushi chefs, drinking with the people near me, we all departed for the evening.

The next day C (CSW staffer who ROCKED) informed us that it was not the case; that Dragos actually was taken advantage of by the restaurant and that liquor bill was 5k because of the $200 per bottle sake the people were purchasing (to the point the restaurant sold out).

Okay... guilt settles in. Fast. I sat their meddling with 1st breakfast, picking at it, feeling awful. I knew what I wanted to do, but also had concerns that Dragos might just look at me and laugh. Still.. after breakfast, an ATM was found, the price of the Sake extracted. It turned out these were the easiest steps.

Getting Dragos alone to say "Sorry, did not know, let me make things right"... that during the conference, was like a Road Runner & Wile E Coyote cartoon...

"So about tomorrow..." (Forensics in 2012)

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:04:03 GMT

I find amusement when last minute requests or expectations are dropped in my lap. (More often I am amused after the event, but I digress). So tomorrow I am attending, and not contributing, to an informal talk with law enforcement.

Today around lunchtime I receive a call confirming I am coming... and that I should be prepared to speak about forensics in 2012. Of course I can probably craft something quickly about the future (seems a lot of people have been asking me lately to think about the future) but I really like to dwell on such things; capitalizing on those rare moments of absolute clarity free of distractions (ie, driving fast down farm roads to/from work, morning showers, lucid dreaming moments during staff meetings) to find the really insightful tidbits that make this more than your usual presentation.

Unfortunately.. at this point, I have no staff meetings, 1 shower, and 1 farmside road trip left before this meeting. So for those in the field who have a moment to ponder this situation.. what will forensics look like in 2012?

- Small form factor devices will be mainstay alongside traditional systems.
- Will stego and crypto have expanded in use? (Only if people make it easy)
- Less will be stored on the system, and more on remote services (myspace, flickr, etc)
- Hard Drive encryption = suckage
- Will exculpatory evidence become more a requirement? Will we not only image systems but need to search for compromise which can be used as an excuse or to introduce doubt?
- Will all the companies doing all the trusted computing, signed code, etc help the field and assumptions we can make?
- Apple & Linux ... time for the forensic vendors to get off their arse and be ready for these systems
- will the examiner's platform shift to *nix?
- HW writeblocker.. essential or useless?
- I've had at least one friend convey to me the ability to break free out of the read-only constraint of Encase..