CTKconnect

USB Flash Drives have more than One Use
Do not trust unknown or free USB devices. It is recommended to look at purchasing more expensive USB sticks that have signed firmware. People have been using USB
devices to deploy malware through Trojan techniques. Either malware is copied to the device with the hope of people plugging the device in and clicking on the file or it automatically executes on insertion. BADUSB has also now afforded the opportunity to include payloads into modified USB firmware that execute on driver installation of the device. The malware payload cannot be scanned by traditional detection methods since it resides in firmware. Other techniques, also utilizing the failure to check for signed firmware, are to implement cross platform scripting to execute keyboard based commands on insertion. There are also USB devices being sold that are designed to destroy the device it is connected to. This is not an exhaustive listing and you should not live in FUD about usi…

Password Complexity and Length: We all know we should be making passwords 16 characters in length with uppercase, lowercase, numeric, special character, and ending in a letter.   Example:  Tdkhg#8fjw*jf2h Problem is that with today's computational power along with the available pre-built dictionaries, this is not as strong as once thought.  Pre-built dictionaries are easily obtainable that are being constantly updated with the 100's of millions of passwords obtained through data breaches.  
Users should be at least using a password manger such as "Lastpass.com" or "1password.com".  Offline password manager recommended is "Password Safe", designed by renowned security technologist Bruce Schneier.  
When creating a new password today, use passwords that are 30+ characters in length to make bruteforce password cracking exponentially more difficult.  This can easily be done when using a password manger.  What about the password used to access the passw…

With Windows Media Center having taken the last death blow from Microsoft, the Roku 4 might make switching less painless.  
Roku 4 pre-order.  Expected Ship Date 10/21/2015.



https://www.roku.com/products/roku-4

Python Tip Calculator

I was reviewing some fundamental tutorials covering Python programming and used this code below to create a simple Tip Calculator.  (https://www.codecademy.com/learn)

Nothing Fancy!! This was just for learning, but was kind of fun.  You can easily elaborate on what is provided by adding some additional conditionals with elif and/or else.

**Code provided below for easy copy/paste.










########################################################
import sys
import datetime

meal = float(input('Please Enter the Meal Cost:  '))
tax = float(input('Please Enter the Tax %:  '))
tip = float(input('Please Enter the Tip Percentage %:  '))

date = datetime.datetime.now()

if tax >= 0:
    tax = tax * .01
if tip >= 0:
    tip = tip * .01

meal = meal + meal * tax
total = meal + meal * tip

output = round(total,2)
print("\nTOTAL\n")
print(date.strftime("%I:%M:%S %m/%d/%Y"),'\n$',output,'\n')

Layoffs reported in the OKC Chesapeake offices.  Reported that over 500 have been laid off.

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