I am a meat popsicle.
This is Andrew Brandt's non-work profile, where I may discuss information security topics as well as non-infosec things that are on my mind.
I'm a malware researcher and writer about security topics for an infosec vendor, and a volunteer docent at the Media Archaeology Lab retrocomputing lab (@mediaarchaeologylab) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I hack old stuff and also, occasionally, fix it. Drinker of beer, player of videogames, and nerdcore enthusiast.
Earlier in my career I was a journalist, but always a technologist. I worked for PC World and MacUser magazines as an editor. I was also a staff writer for the UC Berkeley student-run newspaper, the Daily Californian. In the mid-90s I worked for KRON-TV in San Francisco on a tech magazine show called Next Step that was syndicated internationally on Discovery networks.
For purely malware- and security-related toots, please follow @threatresearch
I am furious — incandescently furious — over the attacks on science by Trump and his regime, especially the actions of RFK Jr., which, *as history has plainly show us*, result in deaths upon deaths.
You want the receipts? I've got the receipts.
https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/standing-up-for-science-ca09
my idea of a good time: praxinoscope in tha' house! #mediaBeforeMedia @mediaarchaeologylab
Hold on, I'm just defragging my tulip field 🌷
Standing Up for LGBTQ+ Digital Safety this International Day Against Homophobia
Colorado utility regulators voted Wednesday to begin monitoring the reliability and customer service performance of the state’s largest electricity provider, Xcel Energy.
https://coloradosun.com/2025/05/15/xcel-energy-service-problems-colorado-puc-monitoring/
The inaugural #MalwareVillage at @defcon is proud to announce the opening of its call for talks/papers. Got an interesting investigation you want to share? Submit a proposal today! 🎺
⚠️Deadline⚠️
Midnight UTC on May 25
⚠️Submit here⚠️
https://bit.ly/MV2025CFP 👾
#WorldCyberHealth #WCH #MV #DEFCON33 #DEFCON #Villages #CFP #CFPtime
I've adorned my cassette emulator device with a hand whittled label. The top panel has some bumps from through-board solder pads, so nothing I can do about that. But overall it's alright, if you don't look too closely and/or judge too harshly.
@paul_ipv6 @BlackAzizAnansi You can't (easily) reason people out of decisions they didn't reason themselves into
Professor Stephen Whittle OBE, famed UK Trans Legal activist from Press for Change, probably the most reputable trans person in the UK in regard to the law and affecting it, has put out the action plan guide stating that the best chance of influencing things is for trans people and allys to each write physical letters to their MP and 6 copies to specific other members of parliament.
He's provided the relevant facts to be included and laid out what you need to write.
https://translucent.org.uk/a-guide-to-how-to-write-a-letter-to-parliament/
I added actual menus below the , Tools, Services, and Home recently. Then overrode the stock scroll bar and implemented my own System 7.0 ones on this modal.
I had to crack open a System file using ResEdit so I could get a screenshot of the Macintosh Portable icon. God I love the Infinite Mac emulator website!
Ali, I needed a calculator to convert 16 GB RAM into K, as it was reported in 1990. #vintagecomputing #marchintosh #macos
ok, time to try out the ferric chloride + ferric sulfate + oxalic acid formula from yesterday on a glass plate and see if I can take a photo with it!
@catsalad oh no! mah gravitees are broke!
NEW: This is how Riot Games is fighting the war against cheaters: leveraging the security features in the Windows operating system, fingerprinting cheaters’ hardware, infiltrating cheat communities, and playing psychological games in an effort to discredit cheaters.
"We can just make them look like fools," Riot's anti-cheat lead Phillip Koskinas.
I spoke to him about how video game hackers are trying to get around these measures, and what is the present and future of anti-cheat.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/03/how-riot-games-is-fighting-the-war-against-video-game-hackers/
Happy birthday to...us! 🎂
Today, May Day 2025, World Cyber Health, the parent organization of #MalwareVillage, officially became incorporated in Canada as a not-for-profit organization.
What this means is that, soon, we will be able to begin fundraising to pay for our operations, which include Malware Village, but also several other important projects that focus on training the next generation of malware analysts, and helping victims of cybercrime.
Until those mechanisms are set up, you can support the organization and its efforts by purchasing #malmons embroidered patches from our swag store. MV and WCH founder Lena Yu created these unique characters to represent malware families.
https://malwarevillage.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage
We're looking forward to seeing many of you at upcoming conferences, including DEF CON 33. Our call for presentations is open until midnight UTC May 25. Submit your proposal soon!
@Captain_Jack_Sparrow @qkslvrwolf @botwiki - No, I mean an app.
My library provides us free access to two language learning apps:
- Mango Language App
- Transparent Language App
Both are competitors to Duolingo as you asked.
You dont even need to go into the library. You can often apply for a library card on the website and download the app and sign up without ever stepping foot in the library. About as convenient as you can get.
If you like, let me know your city or town and I'll check your library for the apps they provide.
Suck eggs, Pollievre. Get your shinebox.
The existence of Joy Division implies the existence of Joy Companies, Joy Brigades, and Joy Platoons.
