Tim Lavoie

Working in infosec, from my island paradise.
Fascinated by how tech is (ab)used in real life, and how it might help, or hinder our lives.
Love messing with programming languages, photography, getting outside.

Public Key

npub1a8k5h7agfqgemgfswn35q209my0knaef0yfjp4xhjgreytg2f09qks6mu0

NIP-05 Address

tim_lavoie_at_cosocial.ca@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswnm2tlw5ysyva5yc8fc6q98jaj8mf7u5hjyeq6nteypuj959yhjsprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmnt5tkfdv

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1a8k5h7agfqgemgfswn35q209my0knaef0yfjp4xhjgreytg2f09qks6mu0

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Last Notes

2026-10-06 20:01:45 UTC

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Not sure, but my wife got a tattoo that as well as improving on an old one, covers up some wicked cat scars. A friend's cat sliced her in a panic once, making it look like she had been into self-harm.

2026-08-10 23:54:34 UTC

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I applied firewall rules tailored to my son's devices, which would cut his speed back to dialup rates after a certain time on school nights.
"Daaaaaaad! Why is the internet so slooooooooow?"
"Dunno son, seems to be working fine here."

2026-01-09 06:50:51 UTC

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Reminds me, I have a couple VPSs to move one of these days.

2025-12-22 19:35:09 UTC

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Thanks for the chuckle! I had to share with my wife, who complains about short days this time of year. (From the 50th parallel, 8 hours of daylight)

2025-10-20 18:24:45 UTC

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When the web was new, I thought Postel's Law was a great idea. It sounds great, and very utopian. Now that I work in security (and still mess around in code), I've come to the conclusion that defining correct input, and enforcing it, is key to anything working well at all.
So many web vulnerabilities seem to come from trying to "do the right thing" with bad inputs. XSS in error messages, or giving up too much information. "400, your request is bad, and you should feel bad" is better.

2025-09-19 04:11:42 UTC

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Choose something that has good export options, so you can keep an encrypted copy safe somewhere. You know, in case they get acquired and go sideways like LastPass. KeepassXC is nice for local, cross-platform use too.

2025-08-04 04:18:42 UTC

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Or not so pale blue, if they’re cranks of the colloidal silver variety. (Source: have met one)

2025-05-23 19:32:40 UTC

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Any comparison with Tidal? (I already subscribe there, though without this download-purchase option).

2025-03-21 19:00:15 UTC

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Plot twist, they're *all* made-up languages.

2025-02-28 17:18:37 UTC

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That's great and all, but only helps for those that even consider respecting the wishes of site owners.
I thought this story from LWN on their challenges was interesting: https://lwn.net/Articles/1008897/

2025-02-28 07:36:26 UTC

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Looks like there's already a torrent out there though, e.g. search for "Gaza.How.to.Survive.a.Warzone.2025.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX"

2025-02-28 07:24:08 UTC

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And, well, torrents?

2025-02-21 05:44:27 UTC

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It’s also supporting others, is it not?

2025-02-09 07:41:53 UTC

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I had to look it up to be sure I understood, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_control_(respiratory_disease) or similar is what you mean by source controlled?
E.g. something like N95 masks without valves? It would cost more, but should be possible with more planning than COVID started with. Just guessing, but the yahoos screaming about mask mandates are unlikely to be crowding vaccination clinics.

2025-02-09 07:23:48 UTC

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If there is good ventilation, and everyone is masked, then one person at a time briefly removing theirs to receive a vaccination should be very low risk. Heck, that part could probably be outside.

2025-01-26 18:53:05 UTC

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So the PMs will be firing JIRA tickets off to the LLMs, and then booking video calls with the avatars to badger them about progress?
I, for one, would love to be a fly on the wall for that.

2024-10-26 23:00:47 UTC

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Oh, I should do that. I block on 12 hours after a single attempt, but they do come back (slowly).

2024-10-11 19:50:41 UTC

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Speaking of browser stuff, I do think of browser-integrated password managers as helpful. Not just remembering the myriad, long-and-ugly random passwords, but also because they won't offer to fill in creds on a lookalike domain.

2024-10-11 19:22:13 UTC

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On the flip side, it is also important to welcome phone calls out of the blue from people whose Spidey-sense has tingled a bit, and who trust you enough to sanity check what they're looking at.
Gives me the warm fuzzies, every time.

2024-10-09 06:20:29 UTC

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Er, wow! It's both impressive as hell, but nutty when there is pretty much zero room for error or malfunction.

2024-09-28 17:56:28 UTC

I get to cat-sit one of the kittens we fostered this summer, adopted by friends nearby. Time for some quality cuddle catch-ups…. After NOMs of course.
#caturday
https://media.cosocial.ca/media_attachments/files/113/216/457/383/370/438/original/f72fc373af404899.jpeg
https://media.cosocial.ca/media_attachments/files/113/216/466/920/285/676/original/3a86b802e1b8b7bd.jpeg

2024-09-07 23:44:44 UTC

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I wonder how hard it would be to just keep a local source repo, that you can rebuild as needed with your preferred configuration.

2024-09-07 19:31:32 UTC

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You're saying you shouldn't just wind up, inhale, and plant a big old raspberry on that tummy?

2024-09-03 17:19:36 UTC

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OK, Emacs and dired-mode? Works in a terminal. 😀