Nostr notes by Steve Bellovin

Even way back when, I generally offset my cron jobs by a few ...

2026-10-31T21:17:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…zf66
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Even way back when, I generally offset my cron jobs by a few minutes, just to avoid CPU and RAM (“core storage”) conflicts with other cron jobs.

Five weeks and two days. #FuckCancer

2026-10-30T03:08:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…6wqk
_________________________

Five weeks and two days.
#FuckCancer

No two ways about it; the eMudhra failure belongs in the category ...

2026-10-21T16:58:27Z

No two ways about it; the eMudhra failure belongs in the category of “things that should never happen”. All that said, it’s not a huge issue for most people. A spoofed TLS certificate is only useful to on-path attachers, typically your ISP or a government. Now, if you use a WiFi hotspot run by dodgy or incompetent people, you have reason to be concerned, but it’s probably not a serious issue for most people.
The PHP problem, however, is another matter entirely. That one affects *all* web sites built on PHP, and there are very many of those. If you run such a site, there are no two ways about it: shut the site down until you can patch.

Dreams are weird. For no apparent reason—it’s not an issue ...

2026-10-14T19:40:37Z

Dreams are weird. For no apparent reason—it’s not an issue I’ve read about, talked about, or thought about for years—last night I dreamed about Puerto Rico voting for independence. OK, fine, no problem and not improbable. But that woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep for a while because my awake brain started focusing on the issue of a relatively poor country, essentially all of whose citizens are citizens of the US, as are their children, their grandchildren, etc.
I’m sure there’s an answer, but it wasn’t obvious to me at 4:30am, and I have no idea why I even started thinking about that aspect…

Got my flu and Covid shots today, in opposite arms which should ...

2026-10-05T22:33:21Z

Got my flu and Covid shots today, in opposite arms which should help me with direction-finding to 5G towers.

Fuck cancer. A friend just told me he doesn't know if he has ...

2026-09-20T17:41:06Z

Fuck cancer. A friend just told me he doesn't know if he has days or weeks, but either way, fuck cancer.

I'd have expected him to say American Intelligence. You know: ...

2026-09-19T20:39:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…tkq0
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I'd have expected him to say American Intelligence. You know: "Not many people know this, but 'American' and 'Artificial' both begin with the same letter 'A'."

Better yet, apparently six justices think that the ...

2026-09-14T23:47:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…gq3w
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Better yet, apparently six justices think that the “government” is unlikely to succeed on the merits: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a305_4g15.pdf

They've been issuing (brief) opinions of late in emergency ...

2026-09-11T01:43:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…fknm
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They've been issuing (brief) opinions of late in emergency docket cases; that will reveal a lot.

Yes, though one factor in granting or denying a preliminary ...

2026-09-11T01:37:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…8ggd
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Yes, though one factor in granting or denying a preliminary injunction is the (perceived) likelihood of prevailing on the issues later: https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/preliminary_injunction

NY Times says it's probably not illegal ...

2026-09-10T13:15:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…02xd
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NY Times says it's probably not illegal (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/us/politics/trump-dividend-5000-dollar-checks.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share) and cites a Supreme Court case (https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep456/usrep456045/usrep456045.pdf):

Yup. And wire communications aren’t the same as electronic ...

2026-09-09T23:14:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…jmdt
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Yup. And wire communications aren’t the same as electronic communications.

The only thing I would add: definitions are important in law, and ...

2026-09-09T23:07:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…0g8a
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The only thing I would add: definitions are important in law, and most statutes contain them. For the Federal wiretapping statute, they’re in 18 U.S.C. 2510.

https://www.kevinandkell.com/2026/kk0909.html

2026-09-09T15:12:08Z

https://www.kevinandkell.com/2026/kk0909.html

RE: https://mastodon.social/@bagder/117239565618035899 This is ...

2026-09-09T14:17:04Z

RE: https://mastodon.social/@bagder/117239565618035899

This is important: it shows that while C is *a* problem, it’s far from the only or even largest problem in Curl.

It's very hard to say. Yes, there are obvious logistical ...

2026-09-06T17:17:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…wmgy
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It's very hard to say. Yes, there are obvious logistical reasons why rural areas might benefit from mail voting, but statistically, blue areas use it more.

The point is that there are so many different versions.

2026-09-06T02:26:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…d64f
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The point is that there are so many different versions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_around_the_rosy

2026-09-06T02:23:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…260q
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_around_the_rosy

Up to a point. I fear far more interference in states that Trump ...

2026-09-05T19:58:18Z

In reply to nevent1q…za3l
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Up to a point. I fear far more interference in states that Trump wants to punish, or where he or his minions think that that there's a significant gain to be had by suppressing votes, and while the Senate race is important, the House districts are very gerrymandered.

I hope so. North Carolina is purple, though, not blue, albeit ...

2026-09-05T19:53:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…wunn
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I hope so. North Carolina is purple, though, not blue, albeit with a crucial Senate race in play.

Need a used locomotive? ...

2026-08-31T03:08:02Z

Need a used locomotive? https://www.govdeals.com/en/asset/416/8831

According to the Daily Beast, Laura Loomer claims to have ...

2026-08-28T18:25:01Z

In reply to nevent1q…49u8
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According to the Daily Beast, Laura Loomer claims to have reported him, apparently because he's a "traitor" to her cause: https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-detains-controversial-right-wing-provocateur-milo-yiannopoulos/

As my partner often points out, I have the benefit of a liberal ...

2026-08-26T23:46:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…djn9
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As my partner often points out, I have the benefit of a liberal education (though you likely consider me sadly deficient in my knowledge of movies…).

I think you missed my reference: ...

2026-08-26T21:13:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…ucz0
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I think you missed my reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Coming_(poem)

The centers cannot hold?

2026-08-26T20:29:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…xjns
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The centers cannot hold?

Back when I was in grad school, I registered to vote in NC. For ...

2026-08-26T20:28:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…z0xu
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Back when I was in grad school, I registered to vote in NC. For one election, though, I was going to be out of state visiting my parents. I had to get my absentee ballot notarized. (This was ~50 years ago…)

The mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes is ...

2026-08-26T13:19:10Z

The mnemonic for remembering the names of the Great Lakes is HOMES: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. If the Orange Idiot renames Ontario to America, we’ll just have to use SHAME.

The dissents, especially Jackson's, make it absolutely clear ...

2026-08-24T21:34:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…qe8v
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The dissents, especially Jackson's, make it absolutely clear what's going on. And it is rather odd that this opinion, issued today, focuses on the assertion that there was no final plan, when the NY Times reported on Friday (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/us/politics/postal-service-rule-restrict-mail-ballots.html?unlocked_article_code=1.71A.nd40.MCdeuiDdAwbt&smid=nytcore-ios-share) that a final plan had just been issued.

I read the opinion—and the two dissents are blistering. I urge ...

2026-08-24T21:28:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…ww02
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I read the opinion—and the two dissents are blistering. I urge everyone to read it themselves: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a124_hgci.pdf

I just finished watching "The Story of C++ : The World's ...

2026-08-13T20:45:45Z

I just finished watching "The Story of C++ : The World's Most Consequential Programming Language | The Official Story" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI7tMxzSJ7w) — recommended, even if you don't like C++.

We had plane tickets to DFW in 2024 but cancelled late due to the ...

2026-08-12T19:05:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…t73z
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We had plane tickets to DFW in 2024 but cancelled late due to the weather forecast.

Total solar eclipses are like nothing else. I've seen two, in ...

2026-08-12T18:53:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…5c54
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Total solar eclipses are like nothing else. I've seen two, in Oregon in a fairground in 2017 (we slept there in our rental car the night before) and Vermont in 2024 in a Walmart parking lot that we stumbled into, with many other eclipse watchers.
The really cool things about this photo are first, the solar prominences, and second, Baily's beads (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baily%27s_beads).

Yes, though the FBI stii gets a warrant, given the language in ...

2026-08-10T20:10:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…vja6
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Yes, though the FBI stii gets a warrant, given the language in Warshak (CA6)

Hard for me to compare, given the temporal differences, but ...

2026-08-10T01:32:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…ekhr
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Hard for me to compare, given the temporal differences, but I'll list four: Nantucket (2000), where Maria Mitchell was born and did her early astronomical work (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Mitchell), and which can have very clear skies, despite being a small island; Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah (2001), where the night sky view from the rim is spectacular; Death Valley National Park Nevada (2026), a formal dark sky area; and, circa 1980, a rural area south of Chapel Hill, NC, where I lived for a few years when in grad school. One winter evening, I don't recall just when, there was supposed to be a good meteor shower, so several of went out to watch it. The sky was spectacular, and one didn't have to look hard to see *lots* of meteors.
(Aside: when my kids were in elementary school, there was supposed to be a good meteor shower. For assorted reasons, including timing and park operating hours, none of the nearby parks were suitable. I was living in a densely populated area of New Jersey, with lots of light pollution, so the best available spot was the local schoolyard. When we got there, we saw that at least a dozen others had the same idea. A cop stopped by, wondering why there were so many people in lawn chairs in the schoolyard at that hour of the evening. I was far back, so I didn't get to hear the conversation, but I'm sure he drove away muttering about these weird people…)

Yes—they were afraid that people would share their WiFi ...

2026-08-09T01:06:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…hw3h
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Yes—they were afraid that people would share their WiFi networks with their neighbors (though some ISPs actually liked that and were willing to do billing and share the revenue). My response was to invent a way to count hosts behind a NAT (https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/papers/fnat.pdf), which AT&T patented (US 8,037,167) — because a patent is not the right to do something, it’s the right to prevent others from doing it, and I knew that AT&T was really bad about knowing how to license patents …

I don’t know about it being the most important class I took, ...

2026-08-08T16:44:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…ma34
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I don’t know about it being the most important class I took, but yes to everything else — I learned typing in junior high and typed most homework thereafter, but three years later I was using that skill on an 026 keypunch.

I've been very busy baking and cooking in the lead-up to my ...

2026-08-08T15:47:46Z

I've been very busy baking and cooking in the lead-up to my surgery on Monday (osteoarthritis in my thumb — ~65 years of typing have taken their toll): anadama bread, semolina rye, English muffins, a 24-hour sourdough, skordalia, and (tomorrow evening, with my partner) a spicy tamarind cod dish. I thought about another loaf, but the freezer is kinda full right now… I've also been visiting my favorite birding spots in the area, since I won't be able to hold my camera for at least several weeks.
The doctor assures me that I'll be able to type very soon, as long as I don't try to use that thumb to hit the space bar. That should mean it'll be a great time for writing and programming…
But if I'm unexpectedly silent on Mastodon for a few days, you'll know why…

The fun case for us was terminals in a CS building, across the ...

2026-08-07T16:32:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…0s8v
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The fun case for us was terminals in a CS building, across the street from the comp center. Yup—over 300 meters of cable in conduit. That's well outside the RS-232 spec, but it worked well enough until summer, when nearby ground strikes would fry the hardware at either end. The problem wasn't solved until the CS dept hired a really good electronics tech, who designed and built a multiplexor with optoisolators.

I got the same answer at the UNC Chapel Hill computer center when ...

2026-08-07T15:25:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…4ng3
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I got the same answer at the UNC Chapel Hill computer center when I asked that the locally-connected terminals run at 9600 bps instead of 300 or 1200 bps.

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@agreenberg/117011022100893459 ...

2026-07-31T00:50:51Z

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@agreenberg/117011022100893459

I've been expecting this. The US attacks Iranian water systems; Iran attacks US systems.

quoting
note1u78…3rmt

A Minnesota state fusion center report ties the cyberattacks on 30+ Minnesota water utilities to Iranian-affiliated hackers, according to a water utility information sharing group's memo I obtained.

https://www.wired.com/story/a-leaked-memo-ties-cyberattacks-on-minnesota-water-utilities-to-iran/

I've only testified once, and my mother got very upset when ...

2026-07-29T20:09:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…c2kw
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I've only testified once, and my mother got very upset when she heard I was going to—her model for people testifying before a Congressional committee was HUAC or McCarthy's committee, where people were compelled to testify and either abase themselves, incriminate themselves, or take the Fifth. I had to reassure her that this was not that sort of committee, and that testifying was an honor.

I'm old enough to remember when the Right was claiming that ...

2026-07-28T20:04:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…79y3
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I'm old enough to remember when the Right was claiming that FEMA was planning on rounding people up. It's always projection…

Nostr event nevent1qqsye8s4nhhqmw3gqjz35v7y6ewqeumczluq3089tmt8lqvtzdvqlvqzyzy6x39vq2az9kkgaw36vqkjjpdhc3dh8uje0u40nrekckc04ah5g6g45tc

2026-07-28T17:22:00Z

RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/home-page-91uottdbz/-/a--1AFgpJbRrygQyybRU2ysA%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0

Are any *technical* details on this available?

quoting
note1cwg…zypd

Anthropic A.I. Model Finds Flaws in Tough-to-Crack Encryption Algorithms
[https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/us/politics/anthropic-ai-encryption-security-aes.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub ](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/us/politics/anthropic-ai-encryption-security-aes.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub )

Posted into Home Page [@home-page-newyorktimes](https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/home-page-91uottdbz )

A classic case. See ...

2026-07-28T02:37:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…f9s9
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A classic case. See https://www.newscientist.com/article/1818118-technology-sorry-no-numbers-the-day-the-uss-telephone-network-crashed/ and https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/9.63.html#subj3.1 — and https://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/9.69#subj5 for the precise bug: misuse of a a 'break' statement. The salient points: it was a flaw in error recovery code, which was triggered if and only if while a phone switch was rebooting, it received two incoming call requests within 1/100 second.
In the aftermath, AT&T started classes in the proper use of 'break' statements…

Sounds bad, though perhaps not as bad as the time one flew into ...

2026-07-27T17:16:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…gegm
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Sounds bad, though perhaps not as bad as the time one flew into my mouth while I was bicycling and stung my tongue…

For the former, I suspect one has to look at the Geneva ...

2026-07-24T23:24:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…svlx
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For the former, I suspect one has to look at the Geneva Conventions; for the latter, I'd guess yes, unless barred by the former

It's at Air and Space downtown ...

2026-07-23T17:09:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…wkkq
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It's at Air and Space downtown (https://www.si.edu/theaters/movie/odyssey). Also see https://washingtonian.com/2026/07/21/the-best-places-to-watch-the-odyssey-in-the-dc-area/ or for that matter do what I did: ask your favorite search engine for theaters…

Downtown Silver Spring, about .4 miles from the Metro station.

2026-07-23T16:56:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…0ynv
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Downtown Silver Spring, about .4 miles from the Metro station.

I went to see the Odyssey movie (in IMAX) last night. It's an ...

2026-07-23T16:47:56Z

I went to see the Odyssey movie (in IMAX) last night. It's an impressive film, though far too loud. It stayed reasonably close to the epic poem, though with a few (largely unimportant) changes, like the role and timing of the lotus flower incident. There were a few glaring anachronisms, notably the repeated references to the Sea Peoples and (far worse) Odysseus' reference to the "Age of Bronze".
What was most interesting to me was the philosophical focus of the movie around Zeus' Law (roughly: be kind and hospitable to strangers; if you're such a guest, respect your host) and how that permeated the whole movie. I won't say more, for fear of thematic spoilers, but I found it quite noticeable, and not just in the obvious place, and quite interesting.
The cinematography was superb; so were the special effects.
Anyway: highly recommended, and though you don't need to be familiar with the source material it helps. (I don't see many movies in theaters; oddly enough, as best I recall the last one I saw before this one was Nolan's "Oppenheimer".)

You are in a maze of twisty little hyperlinks, all broken.

2026-07-21T18:14:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…set7
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You are in a maze of twisty little hyperlinks, all broken.

I'm not listed, but I translated the C version to PL/I for ...

2026-07-21T17:47:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…mt6z
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I'm not listed, but I translated the C version to PL/I for IBM OS/360 TSO. It caused such a crunch on terminals at the computer center that I was asked to add time-of-day restrictions on when it could be played.

Crows? They're really smart…

2026-07-21T13:25:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…97k6
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Crows? They're really smart…

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@SteveBellovin/116935801971010847 ...

2026-07-17T21:25:24Z

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@SteveBellovin/116935801971010847

Ok, and I thought I was being sarcastic about the tariffs. Just goes to show: the reality of this administration is always stupider than one can imagine: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/weather/trump-canada-tariffs-wildfire-smoke.html

quoting
note1pxp…43ww

I wonder if Agent Orange is going to threaten Canada with tariffs on exported wildfire smoke if they don’t start vacuuming their forests.

I wonder if Agent Orange is going to threaten Canada with tariffs ...

2026-07-17T14:32:16Z

I wonder if Agent Orange is going to threaten Canada with tariffs on exported wildfire smoke if they don’t start vacuuming their forests.

The Mets-Phillies game, in Philadelphia, will apparently be ...

2026-07-16T22:48:57Z

The Mets-Phillies game, in Philadelphia, will apparently be suspended if the AQI reaches 200.

And then there's the air quality, which isn't awful ...

2026-07-16T21:42:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…5jrc
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And then there's the air quality, which isn't awful *yet*…

Or sometimes just ChatDJT—he often has no idea if what he's ...

2026-07-15T19:24:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…m37x
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Or sometimes just ChatDJT—he often has no idea if what he's saying is true or false, but he emits tokens that are a probabilistically plausible response to the last input statement and his "guardrails"—but those are equal parts fascism, xenophobia, hate, and a desire for power.
And he has no persistent storage of previous inputs…

Followed, in 1989, by this one. ...

2026-07-14T01:53:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…2hg9
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Followed, in 1989, by this one.

Not the first time something like that has happened. I was on the ...

2026-07-10T02:33:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…evyc
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Not the first time something like that has happened. I was on the EAC's Technical Guidelines Development Committee through 2012, but once the GOP gained control of the House the Commission (and hence its committees) stopped functioning for a while.

I had a lot of reasons for retiring when I did, some of them very ...

2026-07-06T18:29:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…05qq
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I had a lot of reasons for retiring when I did, some of them very personal, but everything and anything to do with grants was pretty high on the list. Grants are why I didn't become an academic straight from grad school, and the reality when I moved, 22 later, was even worse than I had expected. But oh, I love students. (I have several ongoing research projects with former students.)

Yup, I remember that post. (And I remember Hazeltine terminals, ...

2026-07-06T15:22:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…zcup
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Yup, I remember that post. (And I remember Hazeltine terminals, not very fondly, but once upon a time, they were an excellent choice.)

Yup. Let me put this in quantitative terms. As far as I know, in ...

2026-07-06T14:01:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…dc9k
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Yup. Let me put this in quantitative terms. As far as I know, in all US research universities every CS PhD student is fully funded. This might be by a student's own fellowship, from their employer or home country, but considerably more often it's via research grants. The funding has to cover all of tuition plus a stipend to cover (subsistence-level) living expenses, plus necessary research travel and equipment, e.g., laptops. (There's also "overhead", a separate complex topic I won't go into.) At Columbia, where I taught before I retired, that meant that every PhD student required $80-100K per year. A typical faculty member had a group of about 5 PhD students. This meant that we had to bring in an average of $400-500K per year in new research funding, every year, plus more if you needed specialized lab equipment or money for cloud services or the like. And I was not allowed to admit PhD students unless I could show that I had money in hand for their first several years.

Trump's research funding cuts and shenanigans have resulted ...

2026-07-06T12:53:43Z

Trump's research funding cuts and shenanigans have resulted in a noticeable decrease in PhD enrollments, risking the future: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/us/research-universities-fewer-phds-science.html

This is back when you posted so frequently that folks joked you ...

2026-07-06T12:15:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…40r6
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This is back when you posted so frequently that folks joked you were really an AI…

We can approximate it, in principle, by the size of Wikipedia ...

2026-07-05T17:05:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…j9je
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We can approximate it, in principle, by the size of Wikipedia plus the size of the Google Scholar cache plus the sizes of the databases of the various journal publishers who lock up their wares behind paywalls that exclude even Google. We can approximate it by counting pages of journals and multiplying by the size of each page, by era—modern, born-digital pages are likely to be much smaller than older, scanned pages, and for that use you wouldn't want to rely on sketchy OCR, especially for all-important equations, tables of constants, etc.
Not that I know what any of those sizes are, but it is, at least, calculable. And in Project Hail Mary, we're dealing with a planet-wide effort on what is literally an existential crisis. (That laptop was one of the less incredible parts of the book, with astrophage being first…)

Nostr event nevent1qqs9y33mt95tgumv247meqhvrftf6mthlt2su95eq6cl9z3nlaud7tczyzy6x39vq2az9kkgaw36vqkjjpdhc3dh8uje0u40nrekckc04ah5gee0q96

2026-07-05T03:13:45Z

RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/u.s.-6tjik97dz/-/a-aFb8JoymTJq_uHCqSFg1wg%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0

Somehow, this is the sign of our times…

quoting
note18l4…5e4d

The Brooklyn Bridge Briefly Catches Fire During a Fireworks Display
[https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/04/us/politics/fire-brooklyn-bridge-fireworks.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub ](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/04/us/politics/fire-brooklyn-bridge-fireworks.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub )

Posted into U.S. [@u-s-newyorktimes](https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/u.s.-6tjik97dz )

I saw a Waymo taxi in Baltimore the other day (and I didn't ...

2026-07-02T15:00:03Z

I saw a Waymo taxi in Baltimore the other day (and I didn't even know they operated there). I was impressed—it was stopped at a light and did not go when the light turned green because there was no room for it, given traffic on the next block. It clearly was not trained on most human drivers' patterns…

N95 masks—they're not just for Covid anymore. (Well, folks ...

2026-07-02T02:27:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…6dnm
_________________________

N95 masks—they're not just for Covid anymore. (Well, folks in California have long known that; on the east coast, not so much.)

Well, not a stretch for Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. I haven’t ...

2026-06-30T14:47:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…74zm
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Well, not a stretch for Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. I haven’t read the opinions yet but even Kavanaugh dissented in part (though he concurred in the judgment). So on what should have been a Duh! case, only a bare majority saw it that way.

Funny, I don't remember any Congressional appropriation to ...

2026-06-30T02:04:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…46we
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Funny, I don't remember any Congressional appropriation to cover such payoffs.

Thank you!

2026-06-29T13:15:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…qg49
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Thank you!

And of course, the Internet really doesn't fit the ...

2026-06-26T22:06:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…8zhd
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And of course, the Internet really doesn't fit the distinctions between Katz and Smith, as Matt and I (and our co-authors Susan Landau and Stephanie Pell) wrote in http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/articlePDFs/v30/30HarvJLTech1.pdf

Also the Church Committee hearings, which showed publicly lots of ...

2026-06-26T20:34:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…kme9
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Also the Church Committee hearings, which showed publicly lots of abusive surveillance by the FBI, etc. (The history of improper surveillance is long, complex, and much older than that, but I don't have the energy to go into it here.)

That's part of FISA (and hotly debated), but not the primary ...

2026-06-26T20:24:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…lml7
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That's part of FISA (and hotly debated), but not the primary purpose. See https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/1802 — FISA intercepts have to be used for "foreign intelligence information", and if "there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party". But per the definitions, "agent of a foreign power" can include US persons if, for example that person "knowingly engages in clandestine intelligence gathering activities for or on behalf of a foreign power, which activities involve or may involve a violation of the criminal statutes of the United States".
This is why FISA exists—there are many borderline cases (and much more complexity to the definitions than I have given here).

I would add: the courts have long held it's perfectly legal ...

2026-06-26T19:57:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…5rmu
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I would add: the courts have long held it's perfectly legal to spy on other countries abroad—that's simply military-type activity, or at worst part of foreign policy, and can be carried out under the inherent authority of the president. Courts have also held that within the US, the full protections of the Fourth Amendment apply, i.e., a warrant is needed for, say, a wiretap. But what if someone within the US—for simplicity's sake, assume a citizen—is believed to be spying for a foreign power? Would a wiretap be foreign intelligence (no warrant needed) or a criminal investigation (warrant required)? FISA tries to draw that line, with special courts (FISC, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and FISCR, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, an appellate court) to approve warrants as needed.

People who write bread-baking recipes never paid much attention ...

2026-06-21T13:54:27Z

People who write bread-baking recipes never paid much attention in geometry class, because when they say that the dough should rise until doubled they don't specify if they mean diameter or volume…

My CC-licensed book, "Don't Get Hacked", is available ...

2026-06-19T00:43:07Z

My CC-licensed book, "Don't Get Hacked", is available in hardcopy, if you prefer, at https://www.lulu.com/shop/steven-bellovin/dont-get-hacked/paperback/product-gj4mq5w.html. The PDF, ePub, and .mobi versions remain available for free at https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/homesec/.

June 6 >> January 6…

2026-06-06T22:03:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…3rk6
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June 6 >> January 6…

In honor of June 6, International Antifa Day. ...

2026-06-06T21:26:02Z

In honor of June 6, International Antifa Day.

When I was on the IAB, we were writing an RFC on cryptographic ...

2026-05-28T20:16:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…jhq0
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When I was on the IAB, we were writing an RFC on cryptographic technology and the Internet. Looking at where we were in the numbering, I emailed Jon Postel and asked if it could be RFC 1984. Jon replied, "We never reserve RFC numbers—but coincidences can happen". Guess what happened…

ihnp4 and harpo were Bell Labs machines, the former at Indian ...

2026-05-23T19:14:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…skm7
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ihnp4 and harpo were Bell Labs machines, the former at Indian Hill in Naperville, IL, and the latter in Whippany, NJ. Decvax was at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), ucbvax was University of California Berkeley, lbl was Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and randvax was, of course, at Rand. The vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM is especially notable. First, it's pre-DNS — note the lack of a .edu or .org or what have you. Second, it says "send to a mail system at Lawrence Berkeley Labs, which will then relay it to vortex via UUCP.
(Aside: this is why I never liked the Twitter use of @ before a username — it's ahistoric, at least for US networks and the Internet. It should have been !username…)

I remember the original CACM paper, but I also have a copy of the ...

2026-05-22T21:10:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…0qhu
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I remember the original CACM paper, but I also have a copy of the 1.0 spec.

I've started calling the southern states "the ...

2026-05-20T13:09:40Z

I've started calling the southern states "the Confederacy". Maybe Virginia can resist joining this time.

That obit has 8 links, including to Brooks' obit. Next?

2026-05-18T02:59:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…9qgx
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That obit has 8 links, including to Brooks' obit. Next?

Lehrer just died and had an obit in the Times—they could have ...

2026-05-18T02:46:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…kaze
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Lehrer just died and had an obit in the Times—they could have linked to it…
What I hadn't know was that he was a colleague of Fred Brooks' at Harvard. Brooks was one of my mentors.

The only error in ...

2026-05-18T02:41:29Z

The only error in https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/17/obituaries/peter-g-neumann-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.jVA.pDm5.QUlwAMJBQtDV : he not only led people in singing Gilbert and Sullivan songs but also Tom Lehrer, whom Peter heard perform when he was an undergrad at Harvard.

Decades ago, according to lore, someone connected Eliza, the ...

2026-05-13T14:38:29Z

Decades ago, according to lore, someone connected Eliza, the "psychiatrist" program, to Parry, which purportedly simulated paranoia. I wonder what would happen today in a face-off between Claude Code and Mythos… (Not sure I really want to know!)

Not even close. He popularized bison ranching and commercial ...

2026-05-06T16:02:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…uvxm
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Not even close. He popularized bison ranching and commercial sales of the meat. Recovery efforts go back more than 100 years, and the national park system was a major part of it.

Pro tip: be very careful about how you put an Apple Watch charger ...

2026-05-04T20:33:30Z

Pro tip: be very careful about how you put an Apple Watch charger into a hotel safe. It's magnetic and can stick to mechanisms, jamming the safe so it won't open properly. No need to ask me how I learned this… (Yes, next time I'll disconnect the charger from the rats' nest of stuff I'm shoving into the safe.)

New book, released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license: ...

2026-04-30T21:14:59Z

New book, released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license: "Don't Get Hacked! Protecting Yourself at Home": https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/homesec/index.html

Retoot for reach!

#cybersecurity #homeCybersecurity #dontGetHacked

And you know that any lawyers who defend him, especially if they ...

2026-04-28T20:45:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…5825
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And you know that any lawyers who defend him, especially if they do it pro bono, will themselves become targets of harassment. (The name of the grand jury foreperson who signed that indictment has been redacted. I'm not surprised—I'd be embarrassed, too, if I had to sign my name to something that stupid and offensive.)

From Agent Orange: "If you can blockade the Strait of Hormuz, ...

2026-04-12T13:59:00Z

From Agent Orange: "If you can blockade the Strait of Hormuz, we can, too." Reminds me of a Three Stooges (I think) skit (pointer, Lauren Weinstein (npub1lq6…nf7e) ?) where Moe and some adversary took turns abusing one of the other Stooges: "Hey, he's mine; I'm the only one who gets to do that to him!"
What an idiot Trump is.

As I've long said, "you don't go through strong ...

2026-04-09T13:37:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…upnu
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As I've long said, "you don't go through strong security, you go around it."

Monospace font, of which Courier is one example, and with no ...

2026-04-09T12:47:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…p3kr
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Monospace font, of which Courier is one example, and with no italics, bold, etc.

I've been thinking about the FCC's insane new ban on ...

2026-03-24T12:28:04Z

I've been thinking about the FCC's insane new ban on foreign-made routers. Note the end of the BBC story at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c74787w149zo:
"One exception to the general absence of US-made routers is the newer Starlink WiFi router. Starlink is part of Elon Musk's company SpaceX.

"The company says the Starlink routers are made in Texas."

And per the FCC's FAQ (https://www.fcc.gov/faqs-recent-updates-fcc-covered-list-regarding-routers-produced-foreign-countries), even US-written software (or, I assume, open source software like OpenWRT) won't exempt foreign-made routers from the ban.

Well, he could veto the bills instead, and while he's ...

2026-03-08T20:31:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…0892
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Well, he could veto the bills instead, and while he's undoubtedly too ignorant to know about the 10-day provision his advisors are not.

Long-time mantra of mine: data that doesn’t exist can’t be ...

2026-03-03T20:22:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…4kuv
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Long-time mantra of mine: data that doesn’t exist can’t be stolen.

Not sure who needs to see this, but… From the Wikipedia page on ...

2026-03-02T23:27:32Z

Not sure who needs to see this, but…

From the Wikipedia page on the Nuremberg trials: "The International Military Tribunal agreed with the prosecution that aggression was the gravest charge, stating in its judgment that because "war is essentially an evil thing", "to initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole".

From the Wikipedia page on Hideki Tojo: he was "found guilty of, among other actions, waging wars of aggression; war in violation of international law; unprovoked or aggressive war against various nations; and ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of prisoners of war".

Is this at all relevant today?

My reaction to ...

2026-02-21T01:00:35Z

My reaction to https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116105214098438914 is to quote West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (319 U.S. 624): "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein." And that was a *wartime* ruling.

I said it during his first term, and I'll repeat it now: what ...

2026-02-18T21:03:07Z

I said it during his first term, and I'll repeat it now: what Trump really wants is to be able to prosecute people for lèse-majesté: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:fa3rwygrp2ebgwdiq6sjn2te/post/3mf5xgsebzk24