If you have AT&T U-Verse, from time to time you may have issues with Facebook or Google sites like Youtube not working, while the rest of the Internet works fine.
The solution is simple but non-obvious: Disable IPv6.
My sons and the chiropractor
I take my sons to the chiropractor once a month. Their fame precedes them, and for good reason.
How do you conduct yourself as a security professional?
At a recent job interview, the CISO asked me a really good question that I wish more people would ask.
He asked me how I conduct myself as a security professional when dealing with the rest of IT.
Work-life integration vs. work-life balance
I wanted to bring up another subtopic from Dr. Ellen Langer’s interview on the Social Engineer podcast: work-life integration. It’s important to consider work-life integration vs. work-life balance.
Dr. Langer stated that work-life balance is inherently unhealthy, because the idea creates a notion that you have to be one person at home and a completely different person at work. She didn’t put it this bluntly, but essentially it means living a lie at least part of the time. She did say nobody should want to live life like that.
Why security pros still fly
Security researcher Chris Roberts has posted some inflammatory things about Boeing airplanes earlier this year, going as far as claiming to have once used the in-flight entertainment system, with a special cable, to send commands to one of the engines and affect the plane’s flight.
When I first heard Roberts’ assertions, my initial reaction was to ask why any security professional would continue to board a plane. Then last week Patrick Gray had the brilliant idea to talk to an Airbus pilot. After listening to the interview, I felt better.
Return to Bonne Terre Mine
Over the Independence Day weekend, I took my family to the Bonne Terre Mine, about 50 miles south of St. Louis on Highway 67. It was once one of the world’s largest active lead mines, and the area around Bonne Terre is still known as the Lead Belt. Mining is still the major industry in southeast Missouri, and the area is dotted with big piles of mining waste, which the locals refer to as “chat.”
Mining in the area started way back in 1720 by French settlers; Bonne Terre Mine opened in 1860. It closed in 1962.
Decrease your Roku resolution to save bandwidth
From time to time when I’m watching baseball on my Roku, I’ll get a lot of buffering and, in extreme cases, a message stating that I may have insufficient bandwidth. If you have the same problem, the best fix for this to to decrease your Roku’s playback resolution. Or if you’re subject to a data cap, decreasing your resolution helps you stay under that too. Here’s how to change your Roku resolution.
The picture will suffer, but I’d rather watch a lower quality picture than none at all. You may also need to resize your Internet connection, but you can do this trick immediately, and for free.
How to mail a baseball card
If you sell cards, odds are at some point you’re going to have to mail a baseball card. You can mail a card cheaply and give it good protection.
One would think people would realize sticking a baseball card in an envelope in between two pieces of cardboard cut from a Federal Express overnight envelope and wrapping a sheet of typing paper around the package isn’t enough protection for a baseball card in the mail.
Even if you write “Do not bend. Deliver Flat.” on the envelope.
Doing it right isn’t too hard, doesn’t cost a lot, and your customers will appreciate it.
Plywood floors for a hardwood look at around $1 per sqft
A comment over at Lifehacker got me thinking about plywood as flooring, which led me to a blog post at Quarry Orchard. The author is one of many people who have had success making floors out of strips cut from ordinary 4×8 sheets of plywood, the variety that sell for around $14 at home improvement stores.
I’d be a bit concerned about durability but there’s a lot to like about the idea as well.