I'm taking a class for Security+ certification. Today one of the topics we covered was buffer overflows. The textbook explanation was confusing. For that matter I think it was wrong, but I was so confused by the end that I'm not sure.

I'm going to give a simplified example and explanation of a buffer overflow, similar to the one I gave to the instructor, and then to the class.

I went to a huge garage sale this morning. I walked home with a 7-year-old Dell 15" LCD monitor. What I paid for it wouldn't buy lunch for my wife and me. When I got it home and saw how well it worked, I felt guilty.

So if you're thinking of selling some computer equipment, take my tips (as someone who attends literally thousands of garage sales every year) for getting decent money for it.

Thirty years ago next week, during a heated division title race with the Kansas City Royals, star California Angels outfielder Lyman Bostock was murdered in Gary, Indiana at the age of 27.

ESPN has a tribute.

He's the best baseball player you've never heard of, and quite possibly also the greatest human being you never heard of.

One gift my wife and I gave ourselves after paying off our mortgage was a Costco membership. We didn't get one before we paid off that debt, just in case it wasn't worth it. I'd carried a Sam's membership for years but found I didn't use it much.

I think Costco is worth it, with caveats.

Much has been said about the mercury content in CFLs. I finally found a rebuttal, courtesy of Australian ex-Amiga journalist Dan Rutter.

Intel released its first-generation SSDs this week. I haven't seen one and I don't plan on rushing out to buy one just yet, but what I've read makes it sound like this is going to be big. Not big like the release of Windows 95 was, but frankly if what people are saying is true, it should be as big of a deal. This is the first disruptive technology I've seen in years.

I think my hot water heater died today. I thought my shower seemed colder than usual today, and in the late afternoon my wife reported no hot water in the kitchen.

It could be something simple, but even if it is, it's time.

I've been getting nostalgic for DOS lately. Well, certain DOS games *cough* Railroad Tycoon *cough*.

One of my coworkers' wives is nostalgic for '80s boy bands whose name I refuse to mention, so there certainly are worse things for me to be nostalgic about. Sure, DOS is terrible, but not that terrible.

This morning on one of the Sunday morning political shows (probably "Meet the Press"), I heard a statement that troubled me. I may be misquoting, but I heard the moderator ask how we can afford to have a vice president who believes in Creation in a time when the United States is lagging so far behind in fields like science and engineering.

I call irrelevance.

Best Bait-n-Switch is offering a service where they'll remove crapware from a PC for 30 bucks.

You can offer to do the same thing for 30 bucks, but do a better job. Here's how.