Tech blogging: you are doing it wrong
anomit | June 27, 2008Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seat belts and get ready to be taken through a whirlwind tour through the kingdom of the self proclaimed ‘tech bloggers’ who profess to live, eat and breathe technology. Soon you would come to know they fart too.
Some generalized observations on the sweeping epidemic that is ‘tech blogging’ :
1. Someone starts a damn, fucking blog with a nice theme. Point to be noted. He could later throw around that fact and claim to be a CSS geek.
2. He starts writing vociferously about mobile phones, ‘gadgets’, ‘latest tech news’ (sic), ‘tips and tricks’ (did I forget to add Windows here?), ‘tweaks’ (o yeah, what’s next? tweaking nipples video on youtube?) etc etc
3. Uses the term ‘geek’ atleast once while describing himself.
That is all that is there to it. Uhm..you would say how do I term it as an epidemic? Let me begin with some specific cases in the Indian blogosphere scene. Cases that would make Tim Berners Lee cringe.
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Case I:
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What is it about: So this guy is a tech blogger. Heck, he knows he is damn popular. He even tom toms his blog stats in a separate post.
What does his blog offer: Let us allow him to describe it himself, “I blog about blogging, tips and tricks, tutorials, hacking, hardware and reviews. A niche is less than what I blog about.”
Fart factor (on a scale of 10): 9.5
Quick analysis: Looking at the first page, I see posts on Opera download, some obscure tool for creating animated gif, ‘tips’ on using IrfanView (aargh) and write protecting USB drives. No need to take the pain to delve dipper into the guano. Mr. Ashfame, you’d have got a 8 but for your zomg-look-i-am-a-hacker posts. Now Mr. Ashfame has ‘tips’ for becoming a hacker too! No wonder the old farts at AntiOnline are going to lose their jobs soon. In his md5sum post, he has a radically different view of the security of hash functions:
It is extremely unlikely for two non-identical files to have same md5sum as calculated by hashing algorithms (however the theory says something else).
Extremely unlikely, no way. The very nature of the 128-bit md5 hashing function opens it up to collisions as some researchers have already demonstrated and which I am not fully qualified to discuss. Mr. Ashfame, I have a task for you. I have a XOR encrypted C source file. Let me see you break it. This hint should be enough for you as I presume you have extensive knowledge of something even more secure than this i.e. one-way hashing functions.
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Case II
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Akshay Gandhi’s tips & tricks and blah blah…
What is it about: A blog that would give you tons of info on freeware and…again…*bangs head on a wall* tips & tricks!
What does his blog offer: Again, nothing better than allowing the person himself to demonstrate it to you.
An ALL INCLUSIVE BLOG – Find trivias, graphology, Vista tips, troubleshooting, mobile secrets, mobile code, reviews, freewares, tips, tricks,legal info, law firms, legal view, jokes, interesting facts, etc…
Fart factor (on a scale of 10): 9
Quick analysis: An all inclusive blog. What more could you ask for, eh? But wait, I thought people satisfied those needs by visiting santabanta.com . Some remarkable gems from the first page: Power Defragmenter 2.0.125, Rapid Typing tutor (they still have openings for typists?) and some shit about System Restore in Vista. Seriously dude, if you need ‘tips & tricks’ for working on Vista you better re-evaluate your current technical knowledge base.
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Case III
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John TP
Do I need to say more?
*SIGH* See, how things get redundant after a short trip to only two blogs? Redundancy, as we have come to know, is frowned upon in the computing world. We have extremely reliable and well edited sources of information for gadgets and cellphone news, new softwares, games and OS releases, major policy upheaval by decision makers in Government and all that on the Wired, Ars Technica, Endgadget, ZDNet blogs (no, I won’t be mentioning TechCrunch here) and a lot many which I don’t visit but have a loyal reader base. The point I’m trying to make here is that don’t fucking post just for the sake of it if you don’t have anything new to add to the already vast source of information available on the same topic. Why? It gets really frustrating for a newbie who would google for something like optimizing his PC and would end up at the countless sites like the ones mentioned above. Total wastage of his bandwidth and time. If an established site has already covered the same thing, DO NOT fucking post the same thing again. (Do I sound like Brad Pitt here?)
BONUS TIP: Stop using Windows and you’d never need to rummage through such shitholes for optimizing applications. There are enough GNU and other open source tools that come bundled with all *nix OSs which would take care of such nifty matters. Case in point: iptables or Zone Alarm?
Get a cue from the blogs of the numerous FOSS developers and also programming stalwarts like Jeff Atwood. Write something that really matters, has some real content. Else, just fucking get off the tube. You are doing no good to us. Just because you have been handed an internet connection, you can’t get away with swinging your fuckin badass boner like it was nobody else’s business (read: posting content with 8+ fart factor).
Signing off, as the lords of code would say:
Talk is cheap. Show me the code.
Wow, it's like you took the words out of my
Anirudh | June 28, 2008Wow, it’s like you took the words out of my mind.
I was bored enough to write code to read your file, and use percentage of alphanumeric/common programming characters as a heuristic and brute forced it till max_int.
Needless to say, it’s friday night, and I’m breaking someone’s xor encryption, which means something has gone horribly horribly wrong.
Hey! Thanks for dropping by :) You used the hint of
anomit | June 28, 2008Hey! Thanks for dropping by
You used the hint of the file being a C source code to the fullest. Awesome.
btw, you could try out the Project Euler problems if
anomit | June 28, 2008btw, you could try out the Project Euler problems if you are that bored. Or have you already solved those too?
It's the sad state of blogging in India at the
Rohit | June 28, 2008It’s the sad state of blogging in India at the moment. There are too many people who think writing a tech blog is all about copying content from other sites.
Oh well I guess it’s just temporary – eventually the cream does rise to the top.
Anomit, I didn't think it's possible to open it without the
Anirudh | June 28, 2008Anomit,
I didn’t think it’s possible to open it without the keyfile. I originally thought a single int32 or int64 key could be used. I’d just xor every character (for some reason utf-8 was detected) and I even mucked around by modifying it to a key-value paradigm and sending it to a 100-machine datacenter, but with no luck.
Haven’t checked out project euler, will do it once I’m done with my summer job.
Anirudh, I used a 1024 byte stream block from the
anomit | June 28, 2008Anirudh, I used a 1024 byte stream block from the device to cyclically XOR the contents of the file. Brute forcing isn’t exactly the most efficient solution considering this key size.
[...] tech, operating systems, locking I remembered
Defining / Redifining the term ‘Geek’ « Manish’s Tech Blog | December 11, 2008[...] tech, operating systems, locking I remembered when I last read Anomit’s post about “Tech Blogging, you are doing it wrong“. He bashed basically two types of people – one who are self-obsessed with their knowledge [...]
Well, I personally think that you're being very mean. Did
lol | June 22, 2009Well, I personally think that you’re being very mean. Did these people say anything about your blog? If they’re not geeks, yet claim to be, why are you feeling so pinched? I’m hinting that you are insecure/unrecognised among your peers and want an outlet to prove that you’re the real geek and not them. If you really are better than them, you’d be much better off being humble, knowing who you really are. Your personality itself will reveal you to be superior if you give up the arrogance.
Dude, cut this whole zen and the master crap already.
anomit | June 22, 2009Dude, cut this whole zen and the master crap already. It doesn’t work that way even if Mr Miyagi told you so.
Talk about drawing half-baked conclusions. Where the hell in the whole post did *I* claim I was a geek, huh?
My problem with these blogs have already been written there. I can’t help it if you lack basic comprehension skills. Have a good day.
Well, I was not giving you any zen and master
lol | June 22, 2009Well, I was not giving you any zen and master crap, and I have no idea who Mr. Miyagi is. You don’t have to claim that you’re a geek. Your manner is enough to convey your desire to say so. Nobody is forcing you to read those blogs. Instead of writing yet another low-self esteem article about bashing people who are technically lesser equipped than you are, you’re better off writing a message informing them about reliable tech sites. I’m sorry but even I can’t help it if you’re a desperate, sociopath who spends all the time scouring /b/ and thinks that his a la Maddox and any other /b/tard attitude is impressing anybody. Get a life.
Man, I don't even know where the fuck should I
anomit | June 22, 2009Man, I don’t even know where the fuck should I begin to point out what’s wrong with you.
1. Come out with your real name. We can have a discussion then. At least I have a real identity to back whatever I say. You are just an anonymous troll, and _you_ of all people tell me what’s wrong with me? Pathetic.
2. Mind reader, huh? How else did you know I’m a raging sociopath? Watch out, you may be next. I’ll be right outside your door
3. Why does it irritate you so much if I’m getting attention? The way I see it, only you among other people who wrote a comment here have a problem with it. Why does it bother you if somebody is anyway impressed with this? So…who needs to get a life?
BTW, thanks for suggesting that I should “get a life”. I guess the people around me will vouch for the existence or rather, non-existence of it.
Dude, what's your identity, an asshole by the name of
lol | June 22, 2009Dude, what’s your identity, an asshole by the name of anomit and the face of a fucking asian? What the fuck does anomit mean anyway? (it sounds like “an omit”, as in a someone we can do without) Okay, for your pleasure, my name is R2D2-gspca-libfuckubuntu-2.6.11 – generic. You can email me at R2D2-gspca-libfuckubuntu-2.6.11 – generic@iamyourfather.com. When do we start the discussion?
lol-luzer, Now you here to show off your smartness? i think you
Manish Sinha | June 23, 2009lol-luzer,
Now you here to show off your smartness?
i think you think it is 1999 and not 2009. If you said the crap about foss in 1999, I would have somehow believed, but not now.
BTW from yoru name and email id I can infer that your can still in 1999. Why? 2.6.11? Dude, so old kernel version? means you are not in 2009. Look around
Getting to on-topic discussion. Arn’t you pissed off on the same “Opera relases Unite” sensational tech news on each effin tech-blog which has nothing special to server apart from those same Ars, ZDnet etc? What special do thy serve? Can’t they just quote from there or link to them instead of copy-pasting 90% of the items are rewriting them in their own language.
Dude, you need to get a life. Geek is a title to be awarded by geeks themselves to deserving candidates. No one can declare themselves(except fools) to be geek or hacker.
Dude lol, since now you got on name calling, you expect
Manish Sinha | June 23, 2009Dude lol,
since now you got on name calling, you expect much from us too. Save your skin.
As I say again, think before you speak. You shoot randomly with closed eyes and later would complain that your foot has gone missing.
Manish, this guy sure looks like he is in 1999.
anomit | June 25, 2009Manish, this guy sure looks like he is in 1999.
Dude, I’m all over the internet. Just google my name. BTW, I would have found your name funny and the email id funnier only if you had decided to hide your sorry smug 2.6.11 ass.
..and yeah, “fucking asian”? “What the fuck does anomit mean anyway?” What do these even have to do with what you started off with? You just proved yourself to be an aimless troll. Is this the best you could do? Seriously, you disappoint me. I was expecting to be humbled by someone who could teach me a lesson or two. Not that there is a dearth of such people, but you see they don’t pay much attention to my meanderings.
Dude Sorry. Actually I was going through a tough time and
lol1 | June 25, 2009Dude
Sorry. Actually I was going through a tough time and was being very bitter…. decided to take it out on you. Sorry to Manish, too.
Take Care
Lol.
Actally no. I was just kidding with the above! Anyway?
lol | June 25, 2009Actally no. I was just kidding with the above! Anyway? What’s with the 1999 bullcrap? I thought you people knew something about linux.
2.6.11, afaik was released in 2005. I definitely could have made the gmail id back then. 1999? I think 2.4 was the thing back then? Anyway, yous seem to be the worst Linux fans I’ve ever come across…. you don’t even know the history of your own kernel!
You might want to start at http://www.linux.org.
P.S. Manish…. You need english lessons, dude!
Take Care, Linfags!
Lol
Tch tch. Man, you need professional help. There are quite
anomit | June 25, 2009Tch tch. Man, you need professional help.
There are quite a few possibilities, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder being a couple of them.
Oh yeah motherfucking lol guy, I just had an Eureka
anomit | June 25, 2009Oh yeah motherfucking lol guy, I just had an Eureka moment. Just pieced together a few pieces. It is clear now that you are working somewhere in the Emirates. Yeah, the Emirates. Repeat with me, a supposedly technical guy, working in a gulf country. Perhaps this would remind where the fuck you stand in your life right now. No wonder you have such wild mood swings because of the Sheikhs who have made you their bitch and force you to get into some sweaty, palm greasy action at the end of a hard day at work. Man, that must be frustrating and disappointing too.
Seeing all that money paid for your higher education go down the drain and amounting to nothing but anal probing…ugh, that must hurt.
And of course that 1999 thing was figurative. Again, with someone like you interpreting something, I shouldn’t have been expecting much. Now please don’t go all insane with a baseball bat on some pussy just because you read somewhere “I’d hit it”.
Finally, as much as half-assed idiots like you would like to ridicule linux, people in the know and those who really matter have very much a good idea of what the future is. Keep trying (but in vain).