• Incidentally, you know why it’s called “grep” ?

    $ re=root # re = “regular expression” $ echo g/$re/p | ed – /etc/passwd # spot the command name root:*:0:0:System Administrator:/var/root:/bin/sh … …in case you’re ever hacked remotely logged into a system where grep has been removed but ed remains; wrap it in a shellscript and you’re all set. Similarly more can be lashed-up using

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  • Twitter Updates for 2011-03-19

    @webmink Because the news has already hit the professional US writers who are free to publish fact rather than opinion. 😛 # t-shirts and the fine art of polemic: http://bit.ly/gHm9gK # Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media | Technology | guardian.co.uk – http://goo.gl/CyrMB # so many #lulz # @beggaboo85 In a sense it's

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  • perl programming, regular expressions, ipv4 addresses, and failed job interviews

    Introduction Some time ago I had a phone interview to test my programming skills and after a few basic questions with some live coding – how would you implement memcpy()? how would you implement memmove() – and after an expansion for exponentiation that was out of my league without consulting Knuth – the challenge was

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  • Twitter Updates for 2011-03-18

    net.fogies.old, represent http://abstrusegoose.com/strips/nostalgic_old_guy_is_nostalgic.png # Bought stuff from Chain Reaction? Check your statements… http://bit.ly/gVR4U0 # so #astronomy #nerdy it's great http://madartlab.com/2011/03/16/astronom-os/ # Saab Automobile hires Aussie blogger who 'saved' the company – The Local – http://goo.gl/7MeQq # Sigh RT @darguell Sun.com, the twelfth oldest domain on the internet, will be decommissioned on June 1st http://t.co/FVXVJE2 via

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  • Twitter Updates for 2011-03-17

    If you put a TARDIS inside another TARDIS, is the innermost one's inside bigger than the inside outside it? #matryoshkavtardis # @chrisgerhard If we're talking about the BBC, it would work. # The beginning of critical popular discussion of #Skype security http://bit.ly/fCE1zO – if you have issues, questions or comments # New: Five Posts at

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  • #Facebook “Press Enter to post a comment, Shift+Enter to start a new line.”

    Yeah, really. The word-processing metaphor will go down well with users on mobiles, Kindles…

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  • “Ignoring national and international cyber security frameworks” #UnscrewingSecurity @ComputerworldUK

    Ignoring national and international cyber security frameworks The Internet is only a dubious reflection of geography; regulation and structure harms it or may simply be ignored. Seeking inspiration for a post I came across this posting by Prescott Winter at ArcSight – on this very website. I find the perspective from which he writes –

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  • Four Posts at #UnscrewingSecurity @computerworlduk

    So far this year I have mostly ignored Dropsafe – it’s been unwarrantedly pushed to the back of my mind, partly because I’ve been blogging elsewhere. I’ll address that, but in the meantime: “Open Source has no bearing upon Software Security – Community does.” Open Source has no bearing upon Software Security – Community does.

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  • Twitter Updates for 2011-03-16

    Apparently staff @m_star_online rescue escapee chickens from the slaughterhouse/factory next door & rehome them in Wales # i r srs jrnlst # (rl srs jrnlst wld tp chckn's vcml) # ask a #perl question on a public forum, get 5 answers only half-of-one-which is relevant http://bit.ly/f5tqWC # @hakmem thy wr dsmvwld # @stuarthoughton This means

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  • Twitter Updates for 2011-03-15

    Yay my RFE made it into Chrome-Dev – you can now do "open all bookmarks in tabs" via the Mac toolbar. More vertical screen space. # Hanging on the telephone, waiting for HMRC Self-Assessment helpline. Tick, tick… # @katerussell It'd be lovely for it to be philosophical, but the realist/programmer tells me the 1st would

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  • Twitter Updates for 2011-03-14

    This Bike is not a Bike – http://goo.gl/GNGOr # Experiences when flying with your #brompton # Excellent set of blog-posts on the history of popular foods / ingredients http://hilobrow.com/tag/hilo-condiments/ via @geoffarnold # ps: some of the history should be taken with a pinch of salt. ha. # RT @acarvin […] #Bahrain police shoot a protester

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  • Twitter Updates for 2011-03-13

    Oh my giddy aunt: "HBGary planned to BLOW THE BALLS OFF OF NMAP!" http://goo.gl/RXGoC # TIL: the term "mortality salience" and its effect on people. As an astronomer/skeptic/atheist I feel rather inoculated from it… # That anyone – even trolls – might think along such lines as have unfolded in #pearlharbour / #pearlharbor astounds me…

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