LIST: Web Services (Part 2)

A friend of mine pointed me to a series of posts from the Infosec Institute focusing on the Web Services Penetration Testing subject:

·         Part 1: Introduction

·         Part 2: An Automated Approach With SoapUI Pro

·         Part 3: Automation with AppScan and Webinspect

·         Part 4: Manual Testing with SOA Client

·         Part 5: Manual Testing with soapUI

·         Part 6: Fuzzing Parameters with Burp

·         Part 7: More Fuzzing with Burp

PS: Thanks to J. Monteiro, P. Lourenço

LIST: Web Services Security Resources

The top 5 google search links returned me very interesting results that are must reads for anyone working with SOA/Web Services - either developing and deploying or testing. Some are from people I know very well (not the NSA ones). 

1. https://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/factsheets/soa_security_vulnerabilities_web.pdf (NSA classification for vulnerabilities)
2. http://www2.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~accorsi/papers/igi-chapter.pdf (model based security)
3. https://eden.dei.uc.pt/~mvieira/dsn_ws.pdf
4. http://www.infosectoday.com/Articles/webservices.pdf
5. https://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-europe-07/Bhalla-Kazerooni/Whitepaper/bh-eu-07-bhalla-WP.pdf

PS: Not in any particular order.

Arduino Starter Kit on DX.com

Interesting stuff for an interesting price:
http://www.dx.com/p/diy-basic-starter-kit-for-arduino-deep-blue-multicolored-297567#.VHNWL4usURM

Priceless?

Extracting Audio From Videos Online

Useful link for quick and dirty audio extraction (possibly losing quality but for most purposes it should be good enough):

http://convert2mp3.net/en/index.php

PS: If you want to extract audio as is on video probably you should look for specific tools for the specific video format you have in hands.

Apple Continuity and Samsung Flow

Apple Continuity and Samsung Flow are interesting trends for sure.

In PT here and in EN everywhere else (google for it):
http://shifter.pt/2014/11/a-apple-criou-o-continuity-e-a-samsung-copiou/

The Raspberry Pi Model A+

THE RASPBERRY PI FOUNDATION has issued another piece of capable low cost hardware, the Raspberry Pi Model A+:
http://m.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2380390/freshly-harvested-raspberry-pi-model-a-hits-stores

Coooooool!

MS and mobile doc editing

In an interesting developing story (and a change of position), Microsoft comes to the top... at the iTunes store. It all makes sense if we think it over: Office remains the golden egg chicken for Microsoft and enabling users on new platforms is a way to keep MS Office relevant.
More on this topic:
http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-word-mobile-version-shoots-to-top-of-itunes-charts/

Apps and Books and Sites for Procrastinators

Procrastination is as old as the Egyptians and Greeks, but now it's a hot topic due to the fact that we have so many external stimuli that put us away from work and personal things to be done (social networks and always connected devices, interesting internet sites always feeding you with interesting novelties, etc.).

Theres are thousands of books on the issue that can be found at Amazon, and there are apps and sites to help me (sorry, you) on it.

The following article refers some of them including (goal setters or just reminding sounds):
- Procrastor
- Procrastination Hack
- Finish
- Yelling Mom

When internet is the cause for procrastination there are internet-restricting applications like:
- Freedom
- SelfControl

Even book writers use them for finishing books so why not software computer program writers (I mean developers)?

More info at:
http://m.bbc.com/news/magazine-29570615

PS:
The bright side is that the article quotes someone praising the high self confidence of guys like YOU that consciencously delay stuff to the last minute because you trust that you'll be able to deal with the last minute pressure and get away with it (with good (or fair) results. Never looked at it this way.

Facial recognition techniques

I've been wondering how face recognition algorithms work. This news article puts a name on some of them. For future reference.

"The two main techniques used to recognise faces electronically are principal-component analysis (PCA) and linear-discriminant analysis (LDA). Both compare a picture of someone’s phizog with a reference image taken in a controlled environment. Passport photos and mugshots, then, are about as ideal as it gets."

Source:
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21613160-facial-recognition-systems-are-getting-better-clocking-peoples-clocks?fsrc=rss%7Csct

VS Mag has an article on Delphi XE7

Found it a bit surprising but VS Magazine is talking about Embarcadero RAD XE 7 (Delphi successor).

http://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2014/09/08/embarcadero-rad-xe7.aspx

Embarcadero is trying to keep up but last time I heard from them people were complaining - on newletters I once subscribed - of (hold your breath)... newsgroups' outage.

After a few days down, Embarcadero came with some explanation of the supposed migration gone bad.

Newsletters and newsgroups look by now so 20th century ain't it?

Windows utilities

Found this 2 very interesting Windows software lists via Twitter:

- Top 10 incredibly useful windows programs to have on hands (occasional use)

- Lifehacker Pack for Windows: Our List of the Essential Windows Apps (everyday use)

Some are known utilities to me, some are not. Nice!

RTCA DO-178B Process Visual Summary

For those of you who need to know what DO-178B is like I need nowadays, I was shown by a colleague of mine - who at the work sits 2 tables ahead of me and who by a mere incident has its name on DO-178C - to this visual summary of the DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification (a document dealing with the safety of software used in certain airborne systems).

Kudos to the summarizing powers of these guys!

Google Camera

Google published recently to the Android store the Google Camera app (available on Google phones sometime ago).

Some features that caught my attention:
A sleek and simple user interface, a 360° photo mode and the blur mode (I am not referencing the panorama mode is something that I use frequently on my Samsung Camera software).

Only for these it was worth the download.

As a con: Reduced set of settings (no ISO, no setting for storage location)

Choosing the community type to create on Google+

Found this interesting table on Google+ help about choosing the right community type to fit its purpose (Create a Google+ Community).