ericlaw

Explainer: File Types

On all popular computing systems, all files, at their most basic, are a series of bits (0 or 1), organized into a stream of bytes, each of which uses 8 bits to encode any of 256 possible values. Regardless of the type of the file, you can use a hex editor to view (or modify)Continue reading “Explainer: File Types”

How Microsoft Edge Updates

By default, Edge will update in the background automatically while you’re not using it. Open Microsoft Edge and you’ll be using the latest version. However, if Edge is already running and an update becomes available, an update notifier icon will show in the Edge toolbar. When you see the update notifier (a green or redContinue reading “How Microsoft Edge Updates”

Attack Techniques: Spoofing via UserInfo

I received the following phishing lure by SMS a few days back: The syntax of URLs is complicated, and even tech-savvy users often misinterpret them. In the case of the URL above, the actual site’s hostname is brefjobgfodsebsidbg.com, and the misleading http://www.att.net:911 text is just a phony username:password pair making up the UserInfo component ofContinue reading “Attack Techniques: Spoofing via UserInfo”

Going Electric – Solar

For years now, I’ve wanted to get solar panels for my house in Austin, both because it feels morally responsible and because I’m a geek and powering my house with carbon-free fusion seems neat. Economically, I assume I’ll eventually break even with solar power, but probably not for a long time– my house isn’t largeContinue reading “Going Electric – Solar”

Improving Native Message Host Reliability on Windows

Last Update: Nov 28, 2023 Update: This change was checked into Chromium 113 before being backed out. The plan is to eventually turn it on-by-default, so extension authors really should read this post and update their extensions if needed. The feature was relanded inside Chrome Canary version 115.0.5789.0. It’s off-by-default, behind a flag on theContinue reading “Improving Native Message Host Reliability on Windows”