It's A Binary World 2.0

About Me

I am a hacker (well, a hacker-in-training, really). I hack Linux, freeBSD, python, perl, photography, video, and life in general.

In this connected world, it can be important to know that you are talking to the person you think you are. My GPG Key can be found in the link and you can use it to verify emails I have signed. Nothing in this world is infallible (eg someone may crack my GPG key and impersonate me) but if you get email signed with my key, you can be reasonably sure that it came from me and is not spam or malicious. (At least as sure as anyone can be about anything online) You can also use my public key to encrypt emails you send to me (if you don’t want others to be able to intercept and read the email) or encrypt files you only want me to be able to decrypt.

I created a couple of simple programs online. GNaughtyNice takes a Google API key and a word and tells you if the word is naughty or not. Or you can go to my Monty Hall page where you can test the Monty Hall “Paradox” by running through it many times over. A description of the Monty Hall “Paradox” is available off that page.

Other pages include Code I am pushlishing under GNU GPL, and a page about The True Cornell Experience. I publish my code under the GNU GPL because I believe it is important to share my code, no matter how insignificant, with others so they can learn. They can, in turn, share with others. Unlike the MIT, BSD, etc license they can’t take my code and then go and make it proprietary. Some people like my position and others believe it is too restrictive. Well, take it or leave it when it comes to my software.

I have a very firm stance against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) and believe that if I go and spend money on music, movies, etc that I should have the rights to do with it as I wish. If I want to put that music on a CD, iPod, or server, I should be able to. While I believe that we traditionally had the ability to share music with others via technology such as dubbing records to tapes, it always has been illegal – it was just ignored in the past. Instead of getting into legal trouble by sharing your music, buy music that is legal to share! Magnatunes and Jamendo sell and/or share music that completely legal to share. Not only is it legal to share, but it’s also legal to use in your mashups on youtube and other sites! (Such as vimeo) Here are my thoughts on DRM. Some key points are here: hypocrisy, DRM, it just makes sense, and civil disobedience. For a source of news on the subject, check out defective by design.

This is the music I like, these are the games I like, and you can help support the blog by buying your photography and video equipment by clicking on the B&H link on the left.