2020
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Cracking the Uncrackable – Background
Nov 9
Before trying to crack a Bitcoin wallet, it helps to know why recovery is possible at all. A 256-bit private key is beyond guessing, but Bitcoin Core wraps it in encryption keyed to a password — and that password is where recovery starts.
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Cracking the Uncrackable
Nov 2
A client once paid a $100 invoice in Bitcoin. I lost the wallet — now worth over a million dollars. After mining earned me fifteen cents, I bought a stranger’s forgotten, password-locked wallet instead, hoping to crack it.
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One Man’s Unsolicited Opinion on the WordPress 5.6 All-Women Release Squad
Aug 19
An all-women release squad for WordPress is long overdue. I’m excited to see what the new 5.6 release will bring to the community!
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Storytelling
May 11
I love telling stories, and I’m learning daily how many fields and industries rely on compelling storytelling to succeed.
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Sciencing the Data
May 9
My Coursera data science capstone: help a fictitious brewery pick a Portland neighborhood using population data and the Foursquare API. Old Town Chinatown had the densest brewery scene, but I’d recommend the Pearl.
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Unboxing the Lemur Pro
May 7
I’d hoped to redeem my RingCentral Game Changers points for a trip to Coder Cruise; the world had other plans. Instead I picked a System76 Lemur Pro: the unboxing, an NVMe swap using their published repair guides, and first impressions.
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Slack Autoresponder – Part II
Apr 17
Today we flesh out our Slack Autoresponder, using Amazon’s Lambda toolkit, the Serverless framework, and RingCentral for messaging.
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Slack Autoresponder – Part I
Apr 16
Now that I’m working remote, I’m using Slack more often. I need an autoresponder to ensure my team can reach me when needed, but give me space otherwise.
2019
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System76: Reflections of a Superfan
Dec 2
In November, I visited the System76 team, toured their offices, and learned about their plans for the future. It’s been an exciting trip!
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Keeping Fresh
Oct 8
How do you keep your coding skills fresh when you’re no longer coding on a daily basis?
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WordPress Nonces: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Oct 7
WordPress’ implementation of nonces was one of my first encounters with cryptographic protections in software development. It’s too bad WordPress nonces aren’t really nonces in the first place …
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In the Wild: Phone Automation
Oct 6
Over the weekend, I encountered a fully-automated phone system similar to the virtual voicemail assistant we’re building through the RingCentral tutorials. I wanted to share my experience so you too can see how powerful such a system can be.