E-Scribe News : a programmer’s blog

About Me

PBX I'm Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using open source software, especially Django. In the '90s I did graphic design for newspapers and magazines. Then I wrote technology commentary and reviews for Wired, Salon.com, Chicago Tribune, and lots of little places you've never heard of. Feel free to email me.

Book

I'm co-author of "Python Web Development with Django", an excellent guide to my favorite web framework. Published by Addison-Wesley, it is available from Amazon and your favorite technical bookstore as well.

Colophon

Built using Django, served by Apache and mod_wsgi. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive. The markup engine is Markdown.

Pile o'Tags

ajax apple blogs browsers business design django ebay fp fun google hardware haskell intellectual property iphone javascript linux media mercurial mobile open source os x oscon oscon2007 palm php programming python rails rants reading risks ruby site spam textmate the well tips tools unix vcs web development web frameworks webservers wmassdevs writing

Stuff I Use

Akismet, bitbucket, del.icio.us, Django, Emacs, FreeBSD, Git, jQuery, LaunchBar, Markdown, Mercurial, OS X, Postfix, Python, Review Board, S3, SQLite, TextMate, Ubuntu Linux

Spam Report

At least 96058 pieces of comment spam killed since January 2008, mostly via Akismet.

Dangerous installers

It's long been a rule of mine to avoid broadband providers' installer software whenever possible. (As Mos Def's character says in "The Italian Job": I HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE.)

The intrepid Daniel Jalkut recently posted a great dissection of a Verizon "upgrade" script gone off the tracks, explaining why it was so bad and how it could have been even worse -- hard-drive-wipingly worse.

It didn't even stuff a bunch of Verizon marketing bookmarks in there to pretty up the browser. Just a big gaping hole where my bookmarks (in the bookmark bar and menu) used to be...

The installer is based on a collection of sloppy AppleScripts, and the author was kind enough to leave the offending AppleScript's source code intact in the shipping image. I know the answer to my question above: was it skill or dumb-luck that caused my Bookmarks to be backed up? It was definitely dumb-luck. In fact, it was a sloppy piece of programming that led to that remnant being left around.

Just say no.

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006
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Some related posts: Open source bounties • Uncovering dirt with Google code search • International Freedom From Stupid Software Patents Day • Johnny can too code • MacBook wireless security exploit fracas primer • Rails security hole hullabaloo • TextMate update • RapidWeaver spamming vulnerability • The dawn of OS X malware

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