Snipe.Net - Geeky Stuff

About


snipeI’m your average tech geek/dev/infosec-nerd/scuba diver/blacksmith/sword-fighter/crime fighter/ENTP/warcrafter/activist, and I currently work as the Director of Technology and corporate security officer at a business innovation agency in New York City.

I’ve been blogging for about 17 years, since before blogging had a name, and was just called “having this website that I update when I have something to say.”

If you want to hear more of what I have to say, follow me on Twitter. (You may want to check out my warning about following me on Twitter, and my caution on why I may not follow you back on Twitter  if you’re a wanker before following, though.)

I’ve been lucky enough to do some cool stuff in my thirty-something years. Some quick and interesting tidbits:

And finally, Craig Engler, Senior Executive at SyFy, immortalized one of my tweets at the 140conf after I had explained my displeasure at their version of a Lovecraft classic:

140conf

His response to my tweet was nothing short of epic. He sent me a DM cheerfully explaining that everyone at SyFy “hoped I was feeling better soon!” Apparently, he still uses that example at conferences when he presents, so I end up getting random flurries of @replies from complete strangers referencing my rectal problems.

So I guess I’m doing something right, if offensive, angry geek rants are your thing. ;)

My Other Sites

If you decide to follow me on Twitter, you’ll realize I’m quite… prolific. I write a lot, and Snipe.Net isn’t my only web baby. These are a few more of my online projects – be warned that many use language that some may consider naughty.

Facebook Development Related

I’m a Preferred Developer Consultant for Facebook, and FBMHell.Com is my attempt at creating order out of the chaos that is Facebook application development. Intended as a tutorial site and repository of information about how to do things within the Facebook API and Facebook FBML framework, I’m hoping it saves users as much headache as it could potentially save me.

Twitter-Related

  • SocialMediaDoucheBag.Net - a satirical commentary on the direction social media has been heading in.
  • DoucheNuker.Com – a free Twitter blacklisting service spawned from the same frustration as that which inspired the above mentioned parody site.
  • TwitterCommandments.Com - a kinder, gentler version of my thoughts on good Twitter behavior, aimed at people who act like dumbasses on Twitter but honestly don’t know any better.

Poetry-Related

A combination of Twitter and a grueling 4.5 hour commute spawned these two sites. More background and some choice picks here.

Activism-Related

Also tons of fun is TehAwesome.Net, which is where I highlight all of my favorite things on the internet, and GeekDays.Com, a calendar of geeky holidays.

So, that’s me. In a nutshell, which is probably an appropriate receptacle. But please, if an article you’ve found here has helped you in some way, take a moment to leave a comment. While I pay attention to my website stats (out of curiosity more than anything else), your comments are really what makes this site worth having, and they carry far more weight to me than site stats ever will.

If you’ve got a project for which you think I might be a good match, get more info on hiring me here. I tend to keep myself pretty busy though, so availability is limited.

Like this site? Buy me a beer!

Detecting Fraud in Facebook Contests

Posted on January 23, 2012 by in Featured, Tips & Tricks, Web Development

Whatever your feelings on Facebook, it’s pretty clear that it’s here to stay. If your company or organization has considered running a promotional Facebook contest, this is crash course in detecting fraud because if your prize is worth anything to anyone, you will encounter fraud, without exception. I am not going to specifically address the [...]


MTAMO – My Tweets Are My Own

Posted on November 21, 2011 by in Featured, Geek Life

This is just a quickie note to let you know about a new site I’ve published, called My Tweets Are My Own, or MTAMO. The site addresses the growing problem of employers monitoring and sometimes even dictating what is acceptable and unacceptable for their employees to say on the employee’s personal Twitter feed. Naturally, this [...]


Locking Down Your Linux Server with APF + BFD

Posted on October 18, 2011 by in Featured, Web Development

If you allow SSH access to your server, there are some simple steps you can take to restrict access and protect yourself from brute force attacks. Two of my favorite scripts to do this are Advanced Policy Firewall coupled with Brute Force Detection, both by R-FX Networks. Note: this article is long, but that’s only [...]


Rogue Antivirus Attacks Tailored to Mac and PC

Posted on May 7, 2011 by in Featured, Life Tools

Rogue antivirus is a term used to describe a trojan (called such because it is a malware file disguised as a file the user has been convinced they want to open) that uses social engineering to trick a user into thinking their computer has been infected, and offers a free antivirus download to “clean” their [...]


New Facebook Page Admin Scam

Posted on May 3, 2011 by in Featured, Web Development

A new scam has come to our attention, one that’s a new take on an old trick in Facebook. Scammers are adding users as page administrators on a page that’s got a poisoned IFRAME set as the default tab. So the user gets a notification “John Smith has made you an administrator of XYZ page”. [...]


iPhone/iPad Apps for Coders and Sysadmins

Posted on April 28, 2011 by in Featured, Web Development

It wasn’t that long ago that I scoffed at the idea of the iPad, or at least thought it would never have any place in my tech toolkit. I finally broke down and got one, and it’s changed the way I work, largely because of the number of fantastic apps out there. We’re finally at [...]


Know Your Social Media Scams & Rogue Apps

Posted on March 3, 2011 by in Featured, Life Tools, Tips & Tricks

As the number of scams and malware threats increase on Facebook and Twitter, it can be hard to keep track of what’s legitimate and what’s not anymore in a way that is in plain-English for non-techies, who are arguably the ones who need this information the most. My mom needs information like this. My mom [...]


Facebook Introduces HTTPS Opt-In for Users, Impacts App Developers

Posted on January 26, 2011 by in Featured, Web Development

In an article posted today on the Facebook Developer Blog, Facebook announced that they would be offering users the option to switch their Facebook experience to HTTPS-only, which would force all Facebook page loads to be routed over SSL. According to the blog entry, this feature would be opt-in, and canvas application developers would need [...]


Security Keynote Download

Posted on January 13, 2011 by in Freebies, Tips & Tricks

I recently gave a low-tech security and social engineering talk at my company to help raise awareness of better password practices and scenarios to be on the lookout for. The deck is 36 slides, and you can download it in PDF, .key or as images. I will warn you that a few slides are not [...]