No guarantees that using SSL will make me post more often. Life has been busy.

I will be presenting one session at the conference: Hardening Enterprise Apache Installations Against Attacks will discuss security issues with the Apache Web Server and how the developer team reacts to issues as they are found. We’ll also talk about protecting applications that are served by the Apache server and may be the target of attacks that do not subvert the web server itself, but the code behind it.

The first time I did this talk, at AacheCon EU 2008, I ran out of time. There’s so much to talk about! The feedback forms submitted by the attendees did, however, identify some spots I can tighten up, so I’m looking forward to present a new, updated version of the talk this fall.

Hope to see you, first week of November, in New Orleans!

From the Grilled Peach and Prosciutto Salad to the Hand-Torn Papardelle, to the Angus Hanger Steak you could cut with a fork, everything was delicious. The desserts were simply to die for: the Blackberry and Raspberry Fruit Crisp was a simple concept, but so, so well executed. The Chocolate Silk Cake was in delightful harmony with its pecan and walnut crust and the salt accent does amazing things to bring out the flavors. We were hard pressed to not lick our plates.

Finally, it was all very reasonably priced. If you plan to hit downtown Sonoma, Cafe La Haye comes warmly recommended.

As in every situation with political implications (and which situation doesn’t?), discussions about the rising gas prices tend to quickly degenerate into an ugly partisan mudslinging contest. Suddenly it’s not about the price of filling up, but about jobs in Michigan vs. drilling for oil off the California coast (which was outlawed by an executive order of Bush senior) and if you’re not toeing one party line, you must be for the other guy.

However, it’s about more than that. Perhaps the shift in the market caused by the high gas prices will cause someone to start innovating again. Stop whining about how the auto industry is going down the tubes making cars that no one wants to buy, but come up with a something that makes this entire problem go away. This is America for goodness sake, we’re supposed to be smart. Is it electric cars that drink from the wall outlet? Can we engineer sufficiently efficient batteries that make them go as far as we need them to? Or will they get their power from hydrogen fuel cells and have we figured out yet how to store hydrogen without letting too many of those tiny molecules escape?

In any case, we have to stop putting gas in our cars. The dinosaurs are dead, they are not making any more oil. That stuff is too precious to keep setting on fire.

As of this week about 400 fires remain. I got a good look at this one today from my flight, from just south of Bakersfield looking northeast.

code_swarm - Apache from Michael Ogawa on Vimeo.

If you’re seeing this in syndication, the embedded video may not come across so do click on the post title, or go directly to the movie site. There is a sound control in the movie pane to turn down the perky electrobeat, although it fits the datastream perfectly.

Very cool stuff.

With all the flashing, blinking and breathing, and the plethora of colored lights in general, it was like trying to sleep in Times Square.