August 23, 2006Aug 23, 200608/23/06On the command line (and in batch files),
environment variable expansion occurs when the command is read.
This sounds obvious at first, but it has its own consequences.
In the online documentation for SET, one such
consequence is spelled out:
set VAR=before
if “%VAR%” == “before” (
set VAR=after
if “%VAR%” == “after” @echo If you see this,
August 22, 2006Aug 22, 200608/22/06The wife of one of my colleagues took a trip through the Far East as part of her work. One of the things she did was buy a bunch of music CDs from the various countries she visited. But not just any CDs.
August 22, 2006Aug 22, 200608/22/06An extension of the “What if two programs did this?” thought experiment is the “Who says there’s only one?” question.
A common question I see is, “From a service, how do I do X with the currently logged-on user?” (Where “X”
August 21, 2006Aug 21, 200608/21/06It’s soon going to come to the point where this is no longer news. The Seattle monorail broke down again, just six days since the previous breakdown, which was in turn just two days after operations resumed.
I think they need to put up a big sign at the Monorail station at Seattle Center that reads
6 days since last breakdown.
August 21, 2006Aug 21, 200608/21/06Often, you find yourself staring at a stack trace for a caught exception
and want to see the original exception.
ChildEBP RetAddr Args to Child
030c21d0 76df3448 00000000 030c6138 76db6b0d ntdll!DbgBreakPoint
030c21dc 76db6b0d 030c2204 77b8d585 030c220c ole32!PeekMessageExceptionFilter+0x42
030c21e4 77b8d585 030c220c 00000000 030c220c ole32!CCliModalLoop::MyPeekMessage+0x41
030c220c 77f36992 030c25d0 030c6128 030c22e8 msvcrt!_except_handler3+0x61
030c2230 77f36964 030c25d0 030c6128 030c22e8 ntdll!ExecuteHandler2+0x26
030c22d8 77f36884 030c1000 030c22e8 00010007 ntdll!ExecuteHandler+0x24
030c25b8 77f6e0dd 030c25d0 00000000 00000000 ntdll!RtlRaiseException+0x3d
030c262c 77d3c239 77d4a4b6 77d3e2c5 030c3767 ntdll!RtlDeactivateActivationContextUnsafeFast+0x233
030c2630 77d4a4b6 77d3e2c5 030c3767 030c26a0 USER32!UserCallWinProcCheckWow+0x167
030c2634 77d3e2c5 030c3767 030c26a0 77d4a46f USER32!_NLG_Return2
030c265c 77d3e288 030c57b4 ffffffff 030c2688 USER32!__local_unwind2+0x70
030c2688 77f36992 030c26f8 030c57b4 030c27a4 USER32!_except_handler3+0xd5
030c26ac 77f36964 030c26f8 030c57b4 030c27a4 ntdll!ExecuteHandler2+0x26
030c2a74 77b8d36d 030c6128 77b8d36d 00000000 ntdll!ExecuteHandler+0x24
030c2a9c 77b8d59d 030c6128 030c2ac0 00000000 msvcrt!__global_unwind2+0x18
030c2ac0 77f36992 030c2ba4 030c6128 030c2bc0 msvcrt!_except_handler3+0x75
030c2ae4 77f36964 030c2ba4 030c6128 030c2bc0 ntdll!ExecuteHandler2+0x26
030c2b8c 77f36796 030c1000 030c2bc0 030c2ba4 ntdll!ExecuteHandler+0x24
030c2b8c 77b7aa54 030c1000 030c2bc0 030c2ba4 ntdll!KiUserExceptionDispatcher+0xe
030c3300 77b7b4dc 030c3324 7715b1b4 00000000 msvcrt!_woutput_l+0x18
(You too can get symbols for operating system binaries,
August 18, 2006Aug 18, 200608/18/06My thanks to the Annals of Improbable Research for pointing out this recommendation from the TSA.
I don’t own a gel-filled bra, so I’ll have to do some extra shopping before my next plane trip.
August 18, 2006Aug 18, 200608/18/06I can’t believe you people are actually asking for backdoors.
If an end user can do it, then so can a bad guy.
In response to the requirement that all drivers on 64-bit Windows be signed,
one commenter suggested
adding a backdoor that permits unsigned drivers,
August 17, 2006Aug 17, 200608/17/06Ever since the FAA decided to reconsider its ban on the use of cellular phones on airplanes during flight, there has been quite a reaction over whether this is a good thing.
To resolve this issue, I present this modest proposal.
August 17, 2006Aug 17, 200608/17/06In the discussion of how to prevent non-“trusted” DLLs from using private OS resources, more than one person suggested having the LoadLibrary or FindResource function behave differently depending on who the caller is. But we already saw that you can’t trust the return address and that you definitely shouldn’t use the return address to make a security decision (which is what these people are proposing).
August 16, 2006Aug 16, 200608/16/06Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer made another appearance on my local public radio station. Among the ocean garbage trivia is the fact that computer monitors float screen upwards (timecode 4:00).
Other fascinating facts:
Garbage from Japan collects near the United States; garbage from the United States collects near Japan.
