I'm Back!

After much harassment from a friend, I finally got around to putting up another post.

Though this was not my 1st time in D.C., I was still able to learn quite a bit. Needless to say the Air and Space Museum is undoubtedly still my favorite place to visit.

The Pentagon was fascinating to me, and I was very tempted to take a picture even after I was told they would take my camera if I did. A very special thanks to my good friend Jeremy Stern for being my photographer and camera man throughout the trip. More if his well-done pictures will be coming soon to BW Science Labs and perhaps Science Quarterly as well.

I understand that BW Science Labs has been a little slow lately. I suppose I am the one to be blamed for that, however please stay tuned as in the next few days I will do my best to put up more great content. In the meantime, keep voting so I can know what you want from BW Science Labs.

I look forward to filling BWSL with many great things.

Off to The Capital

Hi Everyone,

I will be in Washington D.C. starting at 5 AM tomorrow until Thursday or Friday. I will be away from my computer, so there will be no new posts. :(

However, all of BW Science Labs's functions still work, e.g. email subscriptions, polls, etc.

See you soon, and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures! :)

Brennon W
BW Science Labs

A Quick Note On BW Science Labs Security

The last post seemed to worry a person or two, and I would like to quickly clarify any gray areas that may have arised.

BW Science Labs runs on Google's servers. Google owns some of the most powerful multi-layered firewalls on the planet. BW Science Labs is just as safe as Google.com, which I can promise you is not going to be broken into any time soon.

My personal computer could be ransacked and destroyed by every single virus ever created, and BW Science Labs would be untouched. The actual site BW Science Labs is happily sitting in one of Google's digital storage facilities, surrounded by a plethora of firewalls and security counter measures that no supercomputer or human could ever break into.

Also, BW Science Labs isn't exactly a primary target for computer "crackers" (the most accurate term), as no money or sensitive data ever circulates through it.

I hope this clears things up.

Attempted Security Breach

Literally moments ago, my computer was almost broken into. I own a macbook, and was heavily disappointed in its failure to respond.

While reading about rockets, I opened up a new link from google. A "The Internet Plug-In Cannot Be Found" message came up, and I could see the download bar on the page. I attempted to cancel out of the page, but messages kept popping up, I did not waste any time reading them. I quit out of my browser and restarted my computer. From what I could see the download was about half-way done when I quit. I will not post any of the links here, for your safety, however I will tell you what not to click on.

I took these out of my "History" folder:
[Please click on any image to enlarge]





This is a picture of the Google link that took me to the virus:



Ironically the words: "Internet Security is Important" was the name of the virus download page.



What I find troubling was that the link was highly ranked on Google. I'll be spending this weekend assessing my computer's security risk, and I will be making some adjustments.

Thankfully, I keep no sensitive data on this computer, however that doesn't mean I want it broken into.

The irony is I just wrote an article on hacking. I will refrain from calling the attacker a "Hacker". Instead I prefer "Cyber-terrorist" for two reasons: Its more accurate, and it sounds very exciting (joking).

Well, I'm off to check for damage and to upgrade security.

I really need to stop using Safari...

"Ethical Hacking"- An Introduction

The term "Hacker" is now an evil one, someone looked upon as scum by the public eye.

In reality, however, being a "Hacker" does not necessarily mean you are a bad person. People who open up old toys and computers to learn how they work are, technically speaking, hackers.

It was these hackers that made it so that the Internet is as dynamic as it is today. They were explorers and experimenters who were excited to discover the unknown. And it was these hackers who became among the wealthiest in the United States.

So why are hackers today now "bad guys"? Well, as always, we can always blame Hollywood. War Games was THE movie that changed America's perception of Hackers.




Now, hackers are seen as young, rebellious teens who have far too much time on their hands. Many people are now breaking into computer networks, I do admit that. However, these people are not necessarily "Hackers" in the traditional sense. They are more or less "Cyber- Terrorists", and should be arrested.

As far as computer-hacking goes, there is an alternative to the illegal route seen in War Games. Ethical Hacking is still pretty exciting, and worth-wile. However, it is done to help people defend against cyber-terrorists, and people who want to break into their systems with the intent to make money, get revenge, etc.

This Ethical Hacking or "White Hat Hacking" method involves many options. One could do what's called penetration testing, where a computer or network is attempted to be broken into with the consent of the user.

Another option is to attempt to increase the security of one's network by using additional firewalls and counter measures.

When ever I am explaining the concept of White-Hat Hacking I refer to the famous Harry Potter books when someone doesn't understand What I'm trying to say. The "Dark Arts" in these books are used by evil people, however the "Defense Against The Dark Arts" class at Hogwarts attempts to counter the "Dark Arts". This is exactly what an Ethical Hacker does.

Yes, I know, its a crude metaphor, but an effective one.

Today, White Hat Hackers work for the government, corporate businesses, or themselves, and they usually end up helping themselves or other people.

Be One of The First to Subscribe to BW Science Labs via Email!

You may notice something a little different about BW Science Labs today. That's right, there a little box on the top of the left bar that will let you easily subscribe to BW Science Labs via email with the option to unsubscribe at any time.

Of course, subscription will always be free, so please, subscribe now. Your support is always appreciated.

BWSL has always had the option to subscribe via Atom or RSS feeds, however email is much more widely accepted.

I've always wondered about putting up a subscription option, and I only hesitated because it would extract traffic from the actual site. After much contemplation, I have decided that it is worth it. Though, I ask you to please consider coming back every now and then to post a comment or two.

I have tested it on two of my email addresses, one Yahoo and one Gmail, they both work great, however the link in the conformation email appears to be dead at first. When you click on the link, it may not work. Just close the new window and click the link again, it will take you to a "Thank you for subscribing" page.

Thanks as always,

Brennon Williams

Evil Postcards at you Digital Doorstep

The other day I was emailed about a virus that was spreading. I never put much stock in chain-mail, but in this case I would rather be safe then sorry.

I checked Snopes.com because there was supposed to be a page on it there. However, Snopes's catch phrase is "Rumor has it", not "fact has it", so I remain skeptical. However, Snopes did present some accurate data, and its article seemed to be based upon facts. You can read about it here.

All the same, do not open any emails that have anything to do with ecards or postcards. Contrary to what the chain-mail might tell you, this virus is not necessarily the "worst virus ever", nor is it new.

It is possible that it leads the recipient to the Storm Worm, which you can read about here.

I do not recommend opening any emails entitled:



Good luck, and please let me know if you receive any emails like this.