I went ahead, bought a month of service, and setup a webserver. I’m using lighttpd in order to keep memory usage down since I’d like to run quite a few things later on. I then got an SSL cert from StartSSL. Its free and StartCom Ltd’s CA cert is shipped with major browsers so authentication is automatic. (unless you’re like… ) Currently there’s only one page up but check it out here.

https://secure.derekkozel.com/aboutme.php

I’ll be migrating everything over to this VPS and using HTTPS for everything. I’m considering including Strict Transport Security as a default for all HTTP headers. I’ve begun using EFF’s HTTPS Everywhere extension for Firefox and would like to do what I can do encourage SSL’s spread.
Another project I have my eye on for this weekend is Monkeysphere. I’ll post about that if I get around to trying it out. Until then I am rather fond of the Perspectives addon for firefox. This ofcourse has nothing to do with the fact it is developed at CMU.

Two prototype extensions have been released. One is Contacts which, unsurprisingly, creates and manages a local database of people. This is a logical progression of the social web and is an attempt to answer the challenge of tracking who you know and letting websites use this to give you a better experience. Michael Hanson talks about How Firefox Contacts Auto-Discovery Works. Currently the 0.3 version already supports HCards, Google Social Graph, webfinger, and custom support for Facebook, Gravatar, and other sites. I’ve tried it out and it immediately sold itself to me. The extension detects when you begin typing into a text box labeled as taking an email address and attempts to guess what you’re typing. The experience is similar to the awesomebar or a search box.

The other extension is the Account Manager. Mozilla has taken the current state of login management from Weave (limited) and made it into a separate project. Currently in a very immature state, they’ve hard coded support for Yahoo, Facebook, and Google. There’s going to be a meetup on Friday to discuss the specification for supporting various login schemes as well as how to design the user interface. I’ll be attending so I’ll post an update afterwards.

Adblock Plus

This addon is likely the most popular and commonly known that I use. It blocks advertisements based on a list of common ads which is constantly updated. Aside from the obvious benefit of not being presented with all these advertisements it actually prevents their loading thus decreasing the loading time of pages. An issue which some have raised is that ad revenue is the primary source of income for many websites. As Adblock has become more popular some websites have begun explicitly testing for it and presenting messages asking users to disable it. The configuration options allow you to selectively disable it for an entire site or just for specific elements on a page. I have chosen to block all ads by default and explicitly allow them on sites that I frequent and have a degree of trust in.

NoScript

NoScript prevents web pages from loading and running scripts without permission. This covers javascript, java, flash, and pdf as well as other plugins and user side scripts. I found it initially annoying because it blocked a great deal of legitimate content such as buttons on some sites and most videos. However after a week of using it I had set rules allowing content from the websites I most commonly visit and that dealt with most of the annoying blocks. Unblocking a script is very simple. Blocked videos or pdfs appear as a visible box with the NoScript logo and double clicking it permits it to load once. Setting permanent, temporary, or session permissions is done through a button on the status bar. I have persuaded several friends not from a tech background to try it out and most have quickly caught onto the interface and kept running it. I like having the ability to block unnecessary scripts from running as they can slow the browser down as well as retrieve information from the browser that could be used to track me. Also many exploits and viruses online require scripts to work.

Cookie Monster

Cookies are pieces of information stored on your computer by websites. Common uses are allowing you to log into a site, storing items in a shopping cart, and creating a tag that can be used to uniquely identify your browser. This addon blocks all cookies by default and similar to the addons above has configurable permissions for each site. Immediately after installation many login forms and other websites won’t work, but it is again a matter of setting the rules for your most commonly visited sites. I still run into sites that ask me to enable cookies in order for them to work, but this is the case where I want to only temporarily allow cookies for this visit and have them deleted afterward. Cookie Monster blinks if a website tries to store a cookie as a visual queue that if something doesn’t work then temporary permissions may be required.

Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out (TACO)

TACO deals directly with many of the advertising companies which usually store a unique identifying cookie in your browser by setting permanent opt-out cookies. With these cookies in place 90+ advertising companies will not attempt to create an identifying cookie. Cookie Monster actually makes this addon almost pointless as it will block all these companies by default from creating or reading any cookies. I like the redundancy as well as having an opt-out cookie for sites such as Google which I allow to create regular cookies because I need it to use Gmail and Google Calendar. I hope to migrate away from these services, but currently they are the best available and I haven’t found a suitable alternative. I suggest that all users install this addon even if you don’t want to use the rest.

BetterPrivacy

There are some cookies which neither Cookie Monster nor TACO deal with. This class of cookies is referred to as Locally Stored Objects (LSO) or Flash Cookies. These never expire and are not removed by normal methods. BetterPrivacy can scan for these when the browser is shut down and delete them.

RequestPolicy

Websites sometimes (often these days) request files, photos, and other content from other websites. This could be an embedded YouTube video, Facebook Connect, or Google Analytics for collecting usage data. There is also a class of attacks which can be a security risk to your data and computer called a Cross site scripting attack. NoScript will block active scripts from running, but passive files such as images aren’t blocked and sometimes these are where the security risks are. RequestPolicy blocks websites from asking for content from other sites by default. Like the other addons you configure rules on what sites requests are allowed. You can selectively allow some while blocking others even on a single page. It has the additional benefit of often speeding up the loading of pages.

User Agent Switcher

By default every browser sends a string identifying the version of the browser, the operating system, and other information to every website. Although not unique it is information that is nearly always not required for sites to work. User Agent Switcher allows you to set a blank string or even to impersonate other browsers. This can be fun as many sites have mobile versions that automatically are displayed to mobile browsers. Gmail for instance has different versions for the Blackberry, Iphone, and Ipad. I send a blank user agent by default.

RefControl

Along with the user agent string, browsers also send the address of the last page you visited. This allows websites to see where you came from. While usually there is no reason to care it could reveal which bank you use, the username of an account you were logged into, or other information about settings. Again most of the time this information isn’t needed by any legitimate site and it would be fine to send an empty link. RefControl allows you to set a default HTTP referrer page as well as custom settings for each website. I send an empty referrer unless one is specifically needed by a website.

FireGPG

FireGPG is a very different type of addon and I include it because it is related to privacy and identity. FireGPG interfaces with GNU Privacy Guard and allows you to encrypt or cryptographically sign emails or blocks of text. It can also verify signatures and decrypt information sent to you. It integrates well into Gmail and allows information to be secured before it ever leaves your computer. It should be noted however that Gmail will save drafts automatically so unencrypted versions of messages may still be sent over the internet and stored on their servers. A desktop client is preferred if you wish to be maximally secure. This is not a problem if like me you are primarily concerned about signing messages and verifying other signatures. The signatures serve a dual purpose of verifying that the message came from who it claims to be from as well as that the message hasn’t been altered.

Weave Sync

Weave Sync is the final addon I’ll mention. It synchronizes bookmarks, preferences, history, and passwords across multiple installs of Firefox. I find it very useful in keeping my laptop and desktop synchronized.  Weave encrypts all information before it is transmitted or stored anywhere outside of your computer. Mozilla’s weave servers keep a copy of your encrypted data although you could also run your own server. It is an effective and reasonably secure method of backing up this information and moving it between computers. I prefer it over XMarks since as far as I know Xmarks doesn’t do any encryption of your data before storing it on their servers meaning they have access. Also I support Weave’s open source status.

EMS

• Motorola HT750 handheld radio
• Jump Bag (general medical gear)
• Gloves
• Rescue Breather mouth guard

Buggy Safety Net

• Yaesu VX-6R Amateur handheld radio
• Stanley 1L classic vacuum bottle (Works really well!)

General Gear

• Casio F-91W watch
• Black canvas web belt
• Leatherman Wave
• Mino Flip video camera
• Blackberry 8900
• Generic Polarized sunglasses
• O’Gio black backpack (old and falling apart!)
• Lenovo X61 laptop
• TI-83 Plus
• Lined notepad
• Pens, pencils

During the first week of this semester I and over two dozen other students participated in Build 18, an annual engineering competition held by the Electrical and Computer Engineering department here at CMU. We formed groups and spent the week designing and building small projects. One of the sponsors of the event was Sparkfun, a favorite site of mine. They sell a broad variety of parts for electronics projects, have a library of tutorials for the parts,  and are a proponent of open source hardware.

Wil Hamilton and I worked together on a project we dubbed Solar Swarm. My primary interest going into Build 18 was to design a sensor platform that could run autonomously for a prolonged period of time and transmit results wirelessly. Wil is a mechanical engineer and heavily involved in the robotics club. His interest was in building a miniaturized version of Colony, a group of robots working collaboratively to accomplish tasks. By blending these we settled on building a group of four mobile robots (potential for many more) which can communicated wirelessly using ZigBee radios and do object detection with an infrared emitter/detector ring. An Arduino Pro Mini is the microprocessor for each robot in the initial prototype but we intend to have custom PCBs fabricated to lower the cost and size further.

Our initial parts list is this:

• Arduino Pro Mini
• XBee radio
• LadyAda XBee adapter
• Voltage boost regulator
• Solar cell
• Battery pack
• Sub-micro servos

Due to late part arrivals we didn’t complete very much during the week, but we’ll certainly continue working on it. New plans include designing the circuitboard to have an Atmega microcontroller directly integrated rather than using an entire arduino and using a much less expensive radio. This should substantially reduce the cost and hopefully complexity of the nodes.

The Carnegie Mellon University Emergency Medical Service (CMU EMS) was founded in 1984 and is the first responding medical group here on campus. I joined the organization this spring in order to learn the medical knowledge of how to be helpful in emergency situations and to gain the experience to apply those skills.

Last weekend I attended new member training becoming certified in CPR and First Aid as well as familiar with the opperating practices and procedures of the organization. Tonight is my first shift, from 21:00 Saturday till 21:00 Sunday. I’m simply on-call for the 24 hour period, eating, sleeping, and working with a radio. There are usually one or two calls per shift with severities ranging from odd bruising to cardiac arrest; the frequency of the latter of course much lower.

I have a follow-up learning day on the 20th which will recap the skills learned in the previous classes as well as provide more instruction on how to interact with patients and make treatment decisions on calls. Having completed that and three shifts I will move from new member to precept.

“Hackerspaces are community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects.” – hackerspaces.org

My first encounter with hackerspaces was with Techshop over the summer. I was at Maker Faire over the summer, which was a fascinating exhibition of  DIY creations and attitude, when I wandered into a large warehouse type building and found it full of drill presses, CNC machines, lathes, laser cutters, and other equipment. There were two organizations setup inside, one on wood working and the other the Techshop. There was a large poster advertising classes in welding, PCB design, Solidworks design for the CNC and several others. In addition, they were hosting a lecture by a representative of the Institute for the Future. My interest aroused, I attended the lecture which was a 10 year forecast of the development of technogy. A key point made was the role of the popularizing of DIY and the proliferation of hackerspaces.

I ended up making a good friend at the lecture and took courses in MIG welding, Solidworks design, and CNC operation. I worked on a UAV sailplane (not yet flying), based on the ParkZone Radian and the ArduPilot; assembling the AeroTech Arreaux, a hobby rocket capable of carrying a payload; and a Vacuum Florescent Display (VFD) Tube clock, similar to but not based on this clock. Throughout these projects I had access to every conceivable measuring device, soldering tool, and machine. Being one of the younger (but not youngest!) members at the shop I had many other members dropping by interested in what I was working on. They often had great questions and insightful suggestions; at one point there were five of us huddled around a PCB with a multimeter, soldering iron, and stack of VFD tubes.

At university the Roboclub provides space, equipment, and supplies to students wishing to work on projects involving electronics, mechanics, and of course both in the form of robotics. The core of what makes a hackerspace work and grow is that it provides access to equipment that would be cost prohibitive for an individual to own, and allows like minded people to work on projects at common location and leverage the skills and knowledge of the community.

This recipe is from The Babbo Cookbook via The Amature Gourmet cookbook. I made it a few weekends ago for a dinner with friends and it came out wonderfully. It was served over linguine and accompanied by chickenbreasts saute’d in butter. A simple meal that really emphasized the fresh and varied flavor of the sauce.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, finely diced
• 4 Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1 tablespoon dried
• 1/2 Medium carrot, finely shredded
• 2 28-ounce cans peeled whole tomatoes
• Kosher salt

Instructions

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook for 5 minutes more, or until the carrot isquite soft. With your hands crush the tomatoes and add them with their juices. Bring to a boil, stiring often, then lowerthe heat and simmer for minutes, or until the sauce is as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce keeps for week in the fridge or up to 6 months in the freezer.