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Installing Splunk Free in a virtual machine for log analysis
 -  Splunk is considered the gold standard for analysis of event logs and other data, but unless you’re lucky enough to work for an organisation that pays for it, it can be difficult to get practical experience in how to run searches, build dashboards...
Introducing Backutil: A Python‐based Windows backup utility
 -  Back in the spring, I decided that 2020 would be the year I would finally see a coding project through to completion. A recent work project shone a light on backup and recovery, and I realised that I should probably be a bit more consistent with m...
The best cyber security and technology books I read during 2020
 -  One of the few upsides of the whole 2020 situation is that I’ve had a lot more time to read. Periods that I would usually have spent commuting, out with friends, or cramming in chores between getting home and going to bed became downtime that I co...
AWS: Deploying and connecting to a SQL database in the cloud
 -  My first Amazon Web Services (AWS) basics post covered the process of setting up a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and a Windows Server 2019 EC2 instance. This time we’re going to build on this simple setup by deploying a Amazon Aurora SQL database an...
AWS: Deploying a virtual network and server in the cloud
 -  Having worked on serveral projects involving Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently, but always at arm’s length, I decided to get a bit more hands-on. At worst this would give me a more practical grounding in managing cloud instances, and at best it w...
Network connections and packet crafting on the Linux command line
 -  The problem with taking leave during a pandemic is that there are very few places you can go that don’t present an unnecessary risk. For me at least, the thought of taking a plane abroad wasn’t appealing, and neither were the Tube journeys that wo...
Technicolor TG582n router: The missing event logging manual
 -  What started as curiosity has turned into something of a labour of love. Online information about the Technicolor TG582n router’s event logging capabilities is scarce, and scattered across a number of forums. I’ve used that information along with ...
Welcome to a new website with a new philosophy
 -  You may have noticed that things have changed around here - I built a new website, following the ethos that it should be as clear, lightweight, and fast as possible while respecting visitors’ privacy by keeping outside scripts and tracking to a mi...
Setting up Pi-hole to rein in an extremely noisy Samsung Smart TV
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Long-form – HTTPS and VPNs: How private is your internet browsing?
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Coincidentally, in the space of a week I encountered both Zach Seward's article about Quartz and Craig Mod's excellent podcasts with Tim Ferriss. Both evoked fond memories of my time in journalism and the buzz surrounding digital journalism and media in the 2010s

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