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Today my blog turned six, and I tweeted that fact with the following:

My blog http://singe.za.net/ turned 6 today. The fact that I'm tweeting this rather than blogging it is probably significant.

While blogging remains more a more satisfying and useful means of exploring a thought, twitter let's you skip the work and move onto the conversation (sometimes) a bit sooner, but without any decent record of that conversation occurring (twitter's searchable memory is too short). I'm certainly going to continue blogging, but I don't see my throughput increasing much. Luckily, subscribing to an RSS feed is only a cost if there are too many updates ;).

That being said, I think there's been some fun stuff on the blog in the last year, my favourite posts have been:

• Using Maltego to Data Mine Twitter
• Conficker Claims it's first Human Life
• My first guest post - Efficient extraction of data using binary search and ordering information
• Deloitte -> SensePost for a personal milestone (there was another personal milestone, my marriage, but that wasn't much of a blog entry).

Today is the last day of my first week at SensePost, so far the number of:

We loved every moment, if only there was more time. Some photos are up courtesy of our photographers. Our informal engagement shoot, and photos from the wedding.

In the meantime, we're off on honeymoon!

In 17 hours. Finally, I can't wait.

While taking my drugs this evening I noticed something interesting; vs. . Is this rampant plagiarism? If so, somebody at SensePost better sue the arse off those Schering  guys ;)

It's Christmas 2008 here in Africa. Hope you all have a blessed Christmas with some quality time with your families. As for the security geeks, I hope the break gives you time to think, and we come back with new ways to combat crime and defend data ala the spaf.

Update II: It appears these guys get your number after applying for insurance quotes. If you comment, please indicate if you have recently applied for insurance and through whom you applied.

Update: This page originally documented my experiences, but given the number of commentators and changing tactics, it is regularly updated. I can't vouch for the accuracy of, nor take responsibility for, the commentators information, or that of HeloPeter's. Also, while this fits my personal definition of a scam, until that is tested in a court, they are at most using disingenuous marketing tactics. Either way, don't waste your time.

I got a phone call from 'Divine' today telling me I was one of 15 lucky people who had made it to the final draw for a Cheverolet Spark. This appears to be part of a possible ongoing scam (or network marketing) run by a company that keeps changing it's name. They are currently EcoWorld and appear to have been previously Prestige Business Solutions, which others claim use the trickery to try and get you to buy a time share at the Quality Vacation Club.

Divine told me that Anna, the "events coordinator" would be phoning me tomorrow morning to give me the address. She did phone, but I declined to go, and I advise you do the same.

Apparently Forrester reckons Information/Data Architects and Information Security Experts are the Hottest roles in IT (note 'Hottest' is hotter than 'Extremely Hot'). 

You know who you are :)

If you've decided you want to make better coffee, here are my tips for the changes that will yield the biggest results. These aren't comprehensive, just some quick tips for quickly making better coffee.

1. Don't use instant, use proper Arabica grounds.
2. Espresso is the best, then French press, then percolator. A Moka Express or Brikka are quick ways to get into espresso.
3. Use hot milk. This makes a big difference in taste, 30-40s in the microwave should do it. A French Press can be used with hot milk to make decent froth for cappuccino too.
4. Grind your own beans. A grinder is cheap, and freshly grinding your own beans just before you make a cup makes a subtle increase in flavour. Remember to store your beans in an airtight container in a cool dry place (not the fridge).

After 4 years I have finally decided to change my theme. It is very Mac OSX oriented, but I just like it so much. I've also removed a Gig of spam block logs from the DB, so it should be a bit snappier. Finally, I figured out why Google hates me, I somehow didn't run a DB upgrade script on the last blog upgrade, and a ton of links weren't working. They are now.

On Monday, the beautiful Daniela and I will be off to backpack around Italy for two weeks. This is my first bit of travelling and I can't wait. If you've been, and have any tips, please share. We start off with five days in Rome, then five in Florence with a few day trips to Pisa and Assisi, then cap it off with two days on the beautiful Island of Ischia.

I'm currently sick as a dog, but lying in a 5 star hotel. I guess I break even.

I highly recommend the Arabella Sheraton in Cape Town. They have been nothing short of fantastic. There are few things better than arriving back at your room, feeling rubbish, to find a gown, slippers, Lindt chocolate and drugs on your bed. While this is Cape Town, they were only flu drugs.

One year ago today I cut off my beard. I did it because I thought I shouldn't start my first job looking like a Maddog wannabe. I have since realised that nobody cares, and am proud to say that it is back in full swing. It grows much slower in the lofty heights of Johannesburg (humidity makes a difference, who would've though). I am still without mustache however, this bothers me somewhat.

I have run into many people who don't like beards because they feel people with beards have something to hide, I find this quite amusing. The rest either think it makes me look good/bad with no clear winner as yet. I do look noticeably older however, I quite enjoy the fact that clients don't ask me how old I am as much. Instead of having to show them how incredibly bright I am like before, I can now slip into the annals of mediocrity :)

I am deliberately not including any pictures, so I can continue to get those wide-eyed reactions from my friends.

Some geeks in a small town in the Cape of our country, South Africa, hacked together a mobile Java MSN client. They called it MXit and gave it away free. Given the disproportionately high difference in price per byte of SMS vs GPRS provided by our mobile operators. It caught on quickly.

However, the media, and indeed a seemingly large chunk of parents have become very concerned about the latest evil in our society. A rather tech savvy journalist friend of mine just included the phrase "A Society in Crisis" in his last blog entry on the subject, and our daily news tells of an emotionally scarred teenager who just had a 'helluva' ordeal. He'll probably never love again, poor kid.

This topic has been grating my tit for some time now, and I felt the need to counter-rant.