Sanitizing input in software has become a huge topic over the last few years. Big enough that Little Bobby Tables is already a classic cartoon.

Why? Because crooks have learned to trick software in to interpreting things differently than intended, so software now has to be written to more carefully ensure its interpretation of things is correct, or risk corrupt data or broken security measures.

The title is not meant to be sarcasm. It's also not meant to be derogatory. Yes, it is criticism, but more important, it is a serious question that someone deep within the community should make an effort to answer, at least for their own internal understanding.

Apparently, "Luke" finds FreeBSD to be an embarrassment. I'm a bit late coming to the table with this, as it was posted in 2006, but he doesn't seem to have changed his opinion. I wish I'd known he was going to be at Ohio Linux Fest, I would have confronted him about this page of idiocy.

"Why is it idiocy?" you ask. Not because he's wrong about FreeBSD's packaging system being substandard. No, the FreeBSD community knows that better packing is something FreeBSD needs.

Triangulation: End of Time hit she shelves about a month ago. Click on the link and buy a copy.

It's ironic that I'd have such a story to tell on 9/11, which also happens to be National Preparedness Month.

Ironic, but also terrifying. It seems we (as a country) haven't learned a damn thing.

I suppose I should expect this kind of thing out of a company as deceptive as Verizon, but their latest round of advertising is so blatantly deceptive that I can't ignore it.

If you haven't seen the commercial, it involves a fellow working on his laptop, then suddenly getting frustrated and throwing it out the window because "it's broken, it has a virus". This is probably a scenario that Windows users have to deal with frequently.

Life has been so hectic that I almost forgot that Ohio LinuxFest is coming up mighty soon.

This is probably the premier Linux event on the east coast. Arguably, being so far from Silicon Valley, it's not difficult to be a premier Linux event out this-a-way, but I still say it's a prestigious title!

A couple of years ago, I presented at Ohio Linux.

I've added a new category to Drupal. (Just thought I'd point that out for those of you who carefully watch this kind of thing) I'm a big fan of unsolicited product reviews. I think that when companies make something good, it should be lauded generously, and when they try to exchange crap products for money, they should be chastised publicly.

Looks like EFYtimes can't find any high-quality programmers.

On August 19th, that site is apparently experiencing the slashdot effect. I went there based on a slashdot article, and I expect the site's problems are because a lot of other people are doing the same.

If you go to the link later, it's likely that the problem will have gone away. Here's what I saw:


Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80004005'


It was Memorial Day when the events on this web page occurred, and I'm just finally getting them up on the site now.

I hope nobody out there is hanging on my every word, waiting on pins and needles for me to update the site ... I'm simply not that organized, and I'm having a lot of trouble finding time and energy in my schedule to do so. Thus, the updates are sporadic, like the two today.