hacksnack

One of the best trail links in the Oakland hills also happens to have a hackerish name: chown. In UNIX, the chown command is used when an admin wants to CHange OWNership of files.

The trail is in Redwood Regional park and intersects with Fern Trail and is a stretch of narrow, steep, scenic trails in a ravine that gets very little direct sunlight. As a result, the trail is usually moist and tacky. The air is cool and crisp and the ground is covered in ferns and fallen decaying foliage. There are slippery roots and technical descents through rocky straights and curvy switchbacks.

If you plan well, you can do a number of loops connecting Redwood Regional and Joaquin Miller park for a day of serious single track – You won’t even know you’re in Oakland.

Note:

In order to ride a bike on this trail you must be willing to > CHOWN bikes — *, if you know what I mean;-)

CHOWN

NAME
chown — change file owner and group

SYNOPSIS
chown [-fhv] [-R [-H | -L | -P]] owner[:group] file …
chown [-fhv] [-R [-H | -L | -P]] :group file …

DESCRIPTION
The chown utility changes the user ID and/or the group ID of the speci-
fied files.  Symbolic links named by arguments are silently left
unchanged unless -h is used.

The options are as follows:

-f      Don’t report any failure to change file owner or group, nor mod-
ify the exit status to reflect such failures.

-H      If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line
are followed.  (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal
are not followed.)

-h      If the file is a symbolic link, change the user ID and/or the
group ID of the link itself.

-L      If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.

-P      If the -R option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
Instead, the user and/or group ID of the link itself are modi-
fied.  This is the default.

-R      Change the user ID and/or the group ID for the file hierarchies
rooted in the files instead of just the files themselves.

-v      Cause chown to be verbose, showing files as the owner is modi-
fied.

The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R option is specified.
In addition, these options override each other and the command’s actions
are determined by the last one specified.

Iceman

A 26 year old unemployed Romanian has been accused of hacking into N.A.S.A…again. Yes, this is not the first time a Romanian hacker has gained access to NASA systems. Apparently, hacking NASA is a sport in Romania. The prize? Hacker props. Apparently, hacking NASA is  an achievement and proof of skill and character. It is uncertain how the hacker, known as Iceman, gained access to NASA systems. One commentator speculates he used the super-secure-secret Spaceballs password to gain access.

As reported here and here, the hacker gained unauthorized access and destroyed data causing an estimated $500,000 dollars in damages. The question is:  Are we talking about real world prices or NASA prices? For example, NASA spent $19 million on a toilet. Which raises the question: What was actually damaged?

It is a little surprising NASA does not have proper data redundancy or adequate security to alert to this type of attack. In NASA’s defense, I suppose security is a little difficult if under constant attack. However, if they are under constant attack, it is surprising they are not deploying more honeypots, monitoring, or countermeasures to catch, alert, or counterattack before the damage is done.

Ok, enough sarcasm…I like NASA.

The point

While the title is a complete exaggeration (12345t is NOT really their password), weak passwords still continue to be a problem. In many cases, the targets are weakly protected crucial systems that control the infrastructure of our towns and cities (see SCADA). These hacks, including this recent hack of a water system, are arguably much more dangerous than the NASA hack, however, receive much less media coverage. More disturbingly, the vectors of attack are not sophisticated. In his own words, the hacker stated:

“This was barely a hack…I’m sorry this ain’t a tale of advanced persistent threats and stuff, but frankly most compromises I’ve seen have been have been a result of gross stupidity, not incredible technical skill on the part of the attacker. Sorry to disappoint.”

A collection of Danny MacAskill bike trials and urban assault videos.

Warning: It doesn’t matter how good  a bike rider you are, these videos will make you feel like a beginner.

More…

Post links to other videos of bike trials and tricks in the comment section below or vote on your favorite vid.

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August 16 – In remembrance of Elvis, discover the notorious snack that was likely a contributing factor  in the death of the iconic rock legend….A true Man vs. Food story.

The Peanut Butter, Bacon, Banana Sandwich aka The Elvis aka The sandwich that killed The King.

It may not sound appetizing but it is a surprising combination of salty, savory, and sweet.   There is also a Wikipedia page dedicated to the Elvis Sandwich.

Recipe

• 2 Slices White Bread
• Peanut Butter (chunky or smooth)
• 1 Banana
• 3-4 strips bacon
• Butter

Procedure

1. Cook bacon to your liking. We use the oven to cook bacon until moderately crispy.
2. Spread peanut butter on one side of each slice of bread.
3. Slice banana onto each side and smash a little with a fork.
4. Add slices of cooked bacon and make a sandwich.
5. Add butter to a medium hot pan and begin to grill the sandwich. Do NOT be stingy with the butter.
6. Fry each side until golden brown.
7. Eat like a King.

Variation – The Elvis Pizza

The Elvis Pizza is a slightly different take that includes a *very* light layer of Peanut Butter spread on pizza instead of  pizza sauce. Diced tomatoes are added as a topping along with plenty of bacon. The saltiness of the peanut-butter and bacon complement the tomatoes.