NetworkingNexus.net

A New Home: Looking Back

WOW. Five years is a long time in blog years. I could not have possibly predicted back then what this blog would do for me. In going over these old posts, I saw a very interesting progression of my own skillsets and mentality, and I figured I’d share. Call it a thank you for helping me grow the past 5 years. Please forgive the length of this post, but I wanted to make sure to call out everything of significance.

It’s also been crazy to witness the change in writing style. Early on I was not shy about using idioms, memes, and Borat references in blog posts, and now - while I am still humorous from time to time - I am a little more formal and succinct. Another way of looking at it is that early on, there was very little difference between the way that I wrote and the way that I spoke. Today, there Continue reading

Eschew Obfuscation (Communicate Clearly)

Many years ago, I worked for a manager who had two signs on his desk. The first was a pencil with the words, “Pencil 2.0″ printed above them. The rest of the sign went on to explain how the pencil had undo (the eraser), was renewable (it can be sharpened), etc. The second sign was simpler, just two black words printed across a white background.

Eschew Obfuscation

Being just out of the US Air Force, and not having quite the vocabulary I should have (have I ever told you that reading is the key to having a great vocabulary?), I didn’t really understand the point. Now I do. Okay, to make it more obvious, from the Collins English Dictionary, 8th edition:

eschew: tr to keep clear of or abstain from (something disliked, injurious, etc.); shun; avoid
obfuscation: the act or an instance of making something obscure, dark, or difficult to understand

Now do you see? Avoid using language people can’t understand. Far too often, in the technical world, we use abbreviations, acronyms, and all sorts of cute nonsense to say things. We pepper our language with shorthands and inside jokes (squirrel!). While this sometimes helps communication, Continue reading

Where are we with SDN in May 2015 ?

There is so much to talk about in SDN that I couldn’t finish any of the dozen or so blog posts that I started in the last three weeks. Instead I created a 15 minute Keynote presentation that had the key points that I wanted to blog about.

The post Where are we with SDN in May 2015 ? appeared first on EtherealMind.

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Monday, May 18

Security researcher took over airplane systems via inflight techSecurity researcher Chris Roberts apparently told the FBI that he had successfully hacked into an airplane’s inflight systems numerous times over the last four years and took control of engine functions, according to a search warrant filed in court last month. Agents said that Roberts told them he hacked into in-flight entertainment systems by connecting an ethernet cable to an electronics box under the airplane seat in front of him, and issued a command that caused the aircraft to climb.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The Upload: Your tech news briefing for Monday, May 18

New products of the week 05.18.2015

New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.Atlantis HyperScale CX12Key features: Atlantis HyperScale hyper-converged appliances are turnkey solutions that offer the freedom to choose server hardware and hypervisor, and deliver 12TB all-flash performance at 50%-90% lower cost than traditional storage or competitive hyper-converged appliances. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

New products of the week 05.18.2015

FTC recommends conditions for sale of RadioShack customer data

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has weighed in on the contentious issue of the proposed sale of consumer data by bankrupt retailer RadioShack, recommending that a model be adopted based on a settlement the agency reached with a failed online toy retailer.The state of Texas, which is leading action by several U.S. states, has opposed the sale of personally identifiable information by RadioShack, citing the online and in-store privacy policies of the bankrupt consumer electronics retailer.Apple and some wireless carriers have opposed the sale of some of the customer data, which it said was collected from their respective customers and was governed by their privacy policies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FTC recommends conditions for sale of RadioShack customer data

On I-Shaped and T-Shaped Skills

Several of the conversations I had at the recent RIPE70 meeting were focused on career advice (usually along the lines of “which technology should I focus on next”) and inevitably we ended up discussing the benefits of T-shaped skills versus I-shaped skills… and I couldn’t resist drawing a few graphs illustrating them.

Alibaba faces lawsuit from luxury brands over counterfeits

Alibaba Group has been hit with a lawsuit from luxury brands that alleges that the Chinese e-commerce giant has been deliberately promoting the sale of counterfeit products.The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal, comes from Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and other brands owned by Kering. The brands claim that Alibaba has knowingly helped an “army of counterfeiters” to sell their products over its e-commerce sites.These counterfeiters include little-known Chinese vendors that are selling fake Gucci bags for cheap prices, and in wholesale quantities. Alibaba’s search algorithms direct customers to these counterfeits, even when it’s obvious that the products are fakes, the brands alleged in a filing.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Security researcher’s hack caused airplane to climb, FBI asserts

The FBI contends a cybersecurity researcher said he caused an airplane’s engine to climb after hacking its software, according to a court document.The researcher, Chris Roberts, was questioned by the FBI on April 15 after he wrote a tweet that suggested he was probing aircraft systems on a United Airlines flight he took earlier that day.The FBI interviewed him after he flew into Syracuse, New York, and seized his electronics. Two days later, the agency then filed an application for a search warrant to examine Roberts’ gear, which has been published in federal court records.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A New Home: Looking Back

I have moved to a new blogging platform! The timing was interesting, since the wordpress installation on which Keeping It Classless has operated for so long is about 5 years old (I operated on an older domain before Keeping It Classless was born). WOW. Five years is a long time in blog years. I could not have possibly predicted back then what this blog would do for me. In going over these old posts, I saw a very interesting progression of my own skillsets and mentality, and I figured I’d share.

A New Home: Looking Back

iPhone 7 rumor rollup: Camera magic via teeny pixels, plus an “airy” new design

Do you think of your iPhone more as a phone or a camera? The latter might wind up being more true for many if the latest rumors about what Apple will bring to iPhone 6S or iPhone 7 come to fruition. Two well-respected Apple watchers this past week indicated that the next iPhones will likely boast 12 megapixel cameras with smaller pixels designed for higher quality photos. The past few models of the iPhone, going back to the 4S introduced in 2011, have had 8 megapixel cameras. Pixel Party IHS China’s Kevin Wong, referring to the next Apple smartphone as the iPhone 6S, “confirmed” via his sources that a 12MP camera is on the way, according to the G for Games site.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

YAMware Old Malware can still be fun!

(Side note, this blog post was written and then forgotten about quite a while ago, So I’ve finished it off, it was halfway done.)

While on holiday in the evenings with downtime to spare, I had realised that

MPLS VPN’s over mGRE

This blog post outlines what “MPLS VPNs over mGRE” is all about as well as provide an example of such a configuration.

So what is “MPLS VPNs over mGRE”? – Well, basically its taking regular MPLS VPN’s and using it over an IP only core network. Since VPN’s over MPLS is one of the primary drivers for implementing an MPLS network in the first place, using the same functionality over an IP-only core might be very compelling for some not willing/able to run MPLS label switching in the core.

Instead of using labels to switch the traffic from one PE to another, mGRE (Multipoint GRE) is used as the encapsulation technology instead.

Be advised that 1 label is still being used however. This is the VPN label that’s used to identify which VRF interface to switch the traffic to when its received by a PE. This label is, just as in regular MPLS VPN’s, assigned by the PE through MP-BGP.

So how is this actually performed? – Well, lets take a look at an example.

The topology I will be using is as follows:

Topology for MPLS VPN’s over mGRE

** Note: I ran into an issue with VIRL, causing Continue reading

Our Lord of the Flies moment

In its war on researchers, the FBI doesn't have to imprison us. Merely opening an investigation into a researcher is enough to scare away investors and bankrupt their company, which is what happened last week with Chris Roberts. The scary thing about this process is that the FBI has all the credibility, and the researcher none -- even among other researchers. After hearing only one side of the story, the FBI's side, cybersecurity researchers quickly turned on their own, condemning Chris Roberts for endangering lives by taking control of an airplane.

You cannot promote the (true) idea that security research benefits humanity while defending research that endangered hundreds of innocents
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) May 16, 2015

As reported by Kim Zetter at Wired, though, Roberts denies the FBI's allegations. He claims his comments were taken out of context, and that on the subject of taking control a plane, it was in fact a simulator not a real airplane.

I don't know which side is telling the truth, of course. I'm not going to defend Chris Roberts in the face of strong evidence of his guilt. But at the same time, I demand real evidence of his guilt before I Continue reading

Moving Soon!

I would like to take the opportunity to let you all know that Keeping It Classless will be moving to a different blogging platform in the near future. For the vast majority of you, this will not be a problem. My intent is to keep as much as possible consistent between moves.

However, some of you subscribe to my blog using some WordPress-specific features such as email subscription, as well as following me through the WordPress service itself. After the move, these services will have no way of being updated. If this applies to you, please check out the following options:

I will continue to link to each new blog post to my social media accounts, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn. Follow me at whichever you prefer, and you’ll get all new posts in the relevant news feed.
I will continue to provide an RSS feed at http://keepingitclassless.net/feed/. Currently this redirects to feedburner, which is likely what you have in your RSS reader, if you’ve already done this. The transition away from WordPress will break this automatic redirection, but don’t worry – feedburner will continue to deliver post updates to you, at least until I Continue reading

Introducing the Citizens of Tech Podcast

Citizens of Tech is not a show about gadgets and apps, at least not specifically. It's not a show about networking. It's not a constipated show about IT. Rather, it's a show for nerds who like science, gaming, books, contrarian thinking, entertainment, space exploration, transportation, energy, complex world problems, and anything else that's somehow technology-related. Sure, that might include gadgets, apps, IT, and so on, but we're trying to appeal to a certain kind of mind -- probably yours -- and not a certain kind of industry.

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