Last night we lost power to all electrical outlets in our house. On checking the board, I saw that it was the earth leakage, which I was unable to turn back on. This is a story about AAA Electrical (also know as AAA Plumbing, or AAA Electrical or AAA Plumbing & Electrical), and how they tried to defraud me, and appeared to have done it to many others. Don't use them. If you need a reliable & honest electrician use:

Andrew: +27 82 443 7762

It seems my work on privacy has garnered some attention of late. Whether earned or not, I will be presenting at the Computer Security Institute's Virtual Conference CSIVX on the 28th of September. I will be on hand to answer questions, even though it will be some silly hour ZA time. This is technically the first "international" event I've ever "presented (see pre-recorded video for)" at, and it includes the likes of Ira Winkler, Amit Klein and Jeff Williams.

I'll also be presenting on privacy at IS' Internetix2010 conference in both Jozi & Cape Town. Internetix is a rocking conference organised by IS, and I'm chuffed to have been invited. It will be a nice chance to test the privacy stuff with a large non-sec crowd.

Next up, I'll also be presenting a workshop on Threat Modelling off the back of quite a lot of work we (my employer SensePost, and I) have done on it recently. If you want to get an idea of the content, have a look at the last set of slides. It's hosted by the ISF and will be held in Jozi on the 28th.

Finally, I'll most likely be giving the SensePost training at BlackHat Abu Dhabi in Nov. If we get over around 15 people I can justify someone smarter than me from SensePost joining us, so if you're keen for some training, please sign-up :)

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).

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!

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 ;)

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.

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).