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canyoucrackit.co.uk – yes we can ;)
So the British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) wants to recruit smart people. Well, there should be enough around. Although they seem to look for some 1337 h4x0rz, not some serious people from all indicators.
The original one (MD5: 1585DFECC90AE7549814DCE52CA4EDDA) filled the buffer as follows, before calling the mysterious function to get the keyword:
unsigned char buf[0x100];
for(size_t i = 0; i < sizeof(buf)/sizeof(buf[0]); i++)
{
buf[i] = (unsigned char)i;
}
unsigned char idx = 0;
unsigned char const offs[4] = { 0xEF, 0xBE, 0xAD, 0xDE };
size_t const len = sizeof(offs)/sizeof(offs[0]);
for(size_t i = 0; i < sizeof(buf)/sizeof(buf[0]); i++)
{
unsigned char const temp = buf[i];
idx += temp;
idx += offs[i % len];
buf[i] = buf[idx];
buf[idx] = temp;
}
Obviously this is C99 or C++, so don't bother telling me it's "not valid C", it is ... just not valid C89. The second one (MD5: C1C82FB25709F889750CBB7FAFEE1C61) is identical in that regard. What differs are the contents of the called function, but only in two opcodes. Continue reading
Posted in C/C++, EN, Germans have no notion of sarcasm, Programming, Reversing, Software
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I’m blind (I think)
Now don’t get me wrong, I love to use GNU make on all the unixoid platforms where I have to use it and I have been using it for some advanced stuff on Windows as well. But honestly, when has someone tried to compile this on Windows the last time? And moreover has anyone noticed the abundance of warnings?
Guess not. And I was merely trying to create a binary for myself and others who’d want to download it. I didn’t realize it was going to be such a PITA.
Implicit conversions between time_t and int or char and int all over the place, assumptions about the signedness of size_t and the like. What’s annoying about particularly the latter one is that a consistent use of size_t would avoid these warnings.
Oh, and has anyone by any chance noticed the horrible mix of tabs and spaces? What’s the default tab-width the author(s) are using? Is there even one? Continue reading
+0.1 (= 38.7)
It was a major setback (not really). Not even trying to excuse it 😆
Posted in EN, Weight loss
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CVS and SSH on a very old machine …
Had trouble getting it to work with ancient versions of ssh (OpenSSH_3.1p1) and cvs (Concurrent Versions System (CVS) 1.11.20).
Until I figured that I could write a little wrapper script to see what’s wrong. The wrapper script looked like this:
#!/usr/bin/env bash cat -|ssh -vvv "$@"
… so that it could be used inside CVS_RSH for piping. It turned out, that the only “minor issue” was that my version of CVS does not like the contents of CVS_RSH to be anything but the path to an executable. Since I was trying to pass the identity and other options, it simply failed. In addition the PATH wouldn’t be valid inside the invoked cvs process so that the CVS_RSH had to point to the absolute path of the ssh binary.
My workaround after figuring that out:
- Adding the identities to the agent instead
- Passing the full path when setting the
CVS_RSHvariable
Works like a charm now.
// Oliver
-0.9 (= 38.8)
I’m in an odd mood. No idea where it comes from. Still, it reminded me of this:
Blackadder: Brilliant! No time to lose. George, set up your easel, Baldrick and I will pose. This is going to be art’s greatest moment since Mona Lisa sat down and told Leonardo da Vinci she was in a slightly odd mood. Baldrick, you lie down in the mud and be the nun.
😉
Posted in EN, Weight loss
1 Comment
“… but this is Iceland here”
… to say it with “my”, i.e. the German, secretary of foreign affairs.
Last Friday I was trying to (SWIFT-)transfer money out of the country in order to pay some goods I had ordered. It took nearly half an hour to get through the whole procedure. Not only did I have to fill out parts of a form that my bank knows full well (such as my address and other details), but I also was required to give a reason for the transfer etc … long idle times of waiting for some printouts (or whatever the clerk was doing at her computer) …
In one word: ridiculous.
I know that this is one of the reactions of Icelandic authorities to the fact that banksters and other shady people have been funneling money out of the country shortly before, at the peak and shortly after the “kreppa” (roughly: crisis) precipitated. However, these people were really transferring huge sums to evade the Icelandic tax system and so on. The money in my bank account has already been taxed, though. Besides, we’re not talking millions – neither in Krona nor Euro. So how does that compare to those banksters, dear authorities?
Apparently it is still possible to funnel money out of the country “unseen” by using one’s credit card. Unfortunately (not really though) I returned mine in March. The reason for this was that the credit card doesn’t work like credit cards should work (and works) in other countries such as Germany. But the banks are clearly trying to force you into using credit cards as is evident from the low (25000 ISK; a little more than 150 EUR) daily allowance for withdrawal at the ATM, long queues inside the bank for bigger withdrawals and the scrutiny with which international transfers are treated.
Mind you, all of this wouldn’t bother me as much if it was less ridiculous. Example: if I could lift the limit for withdrawals at the ATM at my discretion through the Internet banking site things wouldn’t look so bleak. And while at it, why not allow your customer to “schedule” an international transfer and enter all details and then come to the bank to do the final step? – if that bureaucracy is at all needed …
Both of these ideas would enable the customer to spend as little time in the queue waiting. Perhaps the service agents at the banks are quite contend with the silly procedure they make everyone go through, but it’s actually wasting my time as well as yours 👿
// Oliver
Auweia …
Die 14 min Gelächter habe ich mir gegönnt. Auf ZDF kam eine Sendung unter dem Titel “Adel verpflichtet” in dem sich vor allem – aber nicht allein – ein gewisser “Alexander zu Schaumburg-Lippe” über durch Adoption und andere Mittel erworbene Adelstitel echauffiert.
Vor allem dürfe man denen ja keinesfalls trauen, da jemand der über den Titel täuscht ja ganz sicher über andere Dinge auch täuschen würde. Ah ja … 😆 … Eigentor, Herr Schaumburg-Lippe.
Warum genau soll man also dem “alten Adel” trauen? Genau. Soll man ja nicht. Schließlich haben sich Raubritter und anderes Gesocks die Titel erschlichen indem sie vor Jahrhunderten behaupteten ein gewisser “Gott” hätte ihnen gewisse Extrawürste verliehen. Jene die sich die Titel zuerst erschlichen haben dann wie in einem Schneeballsystem das ganze Ding weiterverbreitet. Im Endeffekt berufen sich aber alle auf diesen gewissen “Gott”, der mit diesem hier wohl nichts zu tun hat.
Einerlei – jeder Agnostiker und Atheist muß logischerweise den Adel insgesamt verneinen. Jeder Angehörige eine konkurrierenden Religion übrigens ebenfalls. Aber warum werden sich der König, der Scheich und der Maharadscha trotzdem nicht bekriegen? – richtig, “eine Krähe hackt …”.
Aber danke nochmal für die lustige Sendung, liebe ZDF-Redakteure. Ich werde sicher noch ein paar Tage weiter darüber schmunzeln können …
In diesem Sinne bleibt mir nur wieder einmal mit meiner langjährigen Forderung zu schließen: Adelstitel in Deutschland abschaffen, nach dem Vorbild Österreichs 1919.
// Oliver
PS: Wer Sarkasmus findet darf ihn behalten.
PPS: … das gilt auch für Rechtschraibfeler!
-1.3 (= 37.9)
In preparation of the upcoming holiday season … I don’t know.
Posted in EN, Weight loss
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Afghanistan
… the way we don’t usually get to see it:
Deutsch: Bilder aus Afghanistan wie wir sie normalerweise nicht zu sehen bekommen.
Posted in DE, EN, Gedanken, Thoughts
2 Comments
Re: Oracle bought ksplice … and apparently the source was pulled
I contacted one of the good people from ksplice (I’ve got an active subscription) and got pointed to
oss.oracle.com/ksplice/software/
Unfortunately the access to a distributed version control is gone for good, it seems.
Posted in Administration, EN, Linux, Software, Unix and unixoid
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Die Bänker lachen sich ins Fäustchen
Man sieht sie schon zittern vor den Kameras, die Bankster. Aber das Zittern ist nur ein Zittern des Zwerchfells vom unterdrückten Lachen.
Die europäischen Staaten überschlagen sich mit Rettungspaketen und Geschenken an die “armen Banken”, die EU-Staatschefs und lupenreinen Demokraten kritisieren Papandreou weil dieser ein Referendum durchführen lassen will – eine der direktesten demokratischen Beteiligungsformen – und die Bänker gerieren sich als großzügige Retter in der Not. Gleichzeitig wird die Unabhängigkeit der EZB von der Politik wiederholt betont …
Hallo? Geht’s noch? Wer druckt die Banknoten und wer vergibt die Kredite von Zaubergeld (fiat money)?
Die Staaten bürgen also für ziemlich sichere Ausfälle anderer Staaten. Ein normal denkender Mensch würde das niemals für jemanden tun, wahrscheinlich nicht einmal innerhalb der eigenen Familie. In der EU machen wir das mal eben. Gleichzeitig wird betont, daß auch der Ausstoß aus der “Familie” kein Tabu mehr sei.
Ach ja, und was passiert wenn wir für die ausgefallenen Bürgschaften zahlen müssen? Genau, dann leihen wir uns Geld bei … ach ja, bei den Banken. Die leihen sich zwar das Geld bei der Notenbank (bspw. EZB), aber haben gleichzeitig das Recht Zaubergeld in ihre Bilanzen zu buchen, auch wenn die Eigenkapitaldeckung nur einen Bruchteil des Kreditwerts beträgt.
Das Geldsystem und die davon lebenden Banken sind das ursächliche Problem, die Schulden der Staaten nur ein den Banken willkommenes Symptom. Oder glaubt jemand ernsthaft Banken seien an der Tilgung der Schulden interessiert? Klar werden sie das so sagen. Interessiert sind sie aber eigentlich mehr an der regelmäßigen Zinszahlung statt an der Tilgung der Schuld. Es geht allein um “gute Schuldner” …
// Oliver
Posted in DE, Gedanken
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Indignez-vous!
Gestern im Flieger las ich das Essay “Empört Euch!” von Stéphane Hessel. Kauft euch das Buch Heft und lest es!
Dies alles von einem Mann mit westlich geprägter Sozialisierung zu lesen, ist schon der Hammer.
// Oliver
Posted in DE, Gedanken
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Whitehat, Greyhat, Blackhat
Sorry, it’s blatantly off-topic by all standards, but it’s an association I’ve always had.
Presumably you’ve heard those terms in connection with IT security. Now, often people have problems as to what those terms actually mean. Having an RPG background, I personally always compare them with magicians from the fantasy worlds 😉
In terms of the RPG system I used to play:
- Whitehat == white mage, may seek knowledge, but will never ever cross certain artificially set limits or limits set by his guild, even if it means hitting the wall w.r.t. his knowledge
- Greyhat == grey mage, seeks knowledge even by questionable means (from the PoV of a white mage) but will refrain from evil deeds or selling the soul
- Blackhat == black mage, seeks knowledge by any means, will sell his soul to a demon if it means more knowledge
Hint: I consider myself a greyhat.
// Oliver
Posted in /dev/null, EN, Uncategorized
1 Comment
Android, what is it all about?
So I did it. I actually bought a cheapo Android phone (Simvalley SP-60) with dual-SIM feature, because that’s the single most important feature of a phone for me.
Of course I went immediately to the privacy settings to turn off all kinds of synchronization options. However, it turned out that this wasn’t really needed until after I had entered the details of a (newly created) Google account. Honestly, why do I have to store my contacts on a Google server in order to get them into my phone? Sorry, but this is ridiculous. Having that option may be nice, but being forced to go this route is kind of scary given the market power of Google. So they don’t just want to know just about everything about all kinds of habits through your search terms, the documents you write and the emails you send and receive, now they also want the offline contacts as well.
The only alternative, I hear, is to “root” my phone. This is exactly what I’m going to do once back in Iceland, because I find it an unsettling thought that Google is collecting all this data. I want to be able to edit my contacts offline and to use my phone the way mobile phones used to work, while having a small portable wireless-capable machine available if the need be.
For now I’m back to the Nokia C2-00.
// Oliver
Posted in EN, IT Security, Software, Thoughts
8 Comments
240 x 25 m in 173 min
Set this record one week (minus some hours) ago, but forgot to mention it. Yes, it was beaststroke as usual.
// Oliver
-3.3 (= 35.1)
More than I bargained for. I’m puzzled. 😯
Also most hilarious situation two days ago. When I was paying the sweets I am going to take along to Iceland on my flight tomorrow, one of the guards from the public pool stood in the queue. You should have seen her face when noticing the sweets. Probably she is now asking herself why I’m swimming so much when at the same time I also “sin” like that 
… still looking forward to the gossip and reactions.
35.1 kg is approx. 77.38 lbs
Posted in EN, Weight loss
7 Comments