Uwe Hermann | A slightly paranoid Debian developer

Dear Lazyweb,

is there any Free Software utility for putting those nice logos/images on LightScribe CDs or DVDs? I'm considering buying such a CD/DVD burner, but only if there's open-source software to control the device. I guess burning CDs/DVDs should be no problem using wodim/cdrecord, but adding images as labels on the CD/DVD is likely not possible without special software.

I know about the LightScribe Linux software (which is binary-only and not open-source, it seems) and LaCie LightScribe Labeler for Linux (which only creates labels but does not write them to the CD/DVD, and is not open-source either, I think).

Anyone aware of a Free Software utility for this? Or at least a public specification/datasheet which could be used for creating one? I might even be willing to join development if datasheets are available.

Mhh, Andrew Morton cleans up the Linux kernel code...

We have no less than 65 implementations of TRUE and FALSE in the tree [...]

The patch implements TRUE and FALSE in include/linux/kernel.h and removes all the private versions.

The patch also kills off a few private implementations of NULL.

(via Stuart Yeates)

I noticed iFeedPod, which seems to be an RSS Reader for the iPod. It sounds like it syncs the feed items from your computer to the iPod for "offline" reading. I really like the idea, but the implementation is Mac-only and only free as in beer (not free as in speech) as far as I can tell.

Does anybody know of a similar software which runs on Linux and is Free Software? Do I have to implement it from scratch?

The world has a new podcasting fan — me. I noticed that iPodder has entered Debian unstable a few days ago (thanks Hilko Bengen!). After a few problems (see bug #326686 for a solution), it now works and looks quite nice to me. I have never used iTunes, so I can't really comment on how iPodder compares to it (anyone?). Also, please leave a comment if you can recommend any other (better?) free software "podcatcher". I noticed podracer, a command line program, which is nice for "headless" usage...

I subscribed to a few initial podcasts for now, more will certainly follow:

• Daily Source Code — probably the most well-known podcast (by Adam Curry, inventor of podcasting)
• Celtic Music News — great celtic/irish music (various artists)
• Tagesschau Podcast — a German news program (I blogged about that before)
• DE:BUG POD — electronic music by various netlabels (lots of crap, but then there are some really awesome tracks there, too)
• this WEEK in TECH — famous tech-related podcast

My subscribed feeds are available as OPML file, I'll update the list from time to time... Any recommendations for good podcasts are welcome!

Oh, and I'm also thinking of starting my own podcast soon, stay tuned!

Michael Howard, David LeBlanc and John Viega have written a book called The 19 Deadly Sins of Software Security, which is to be published soon.

It explains the most important security issues one encounters in the software industry in a Design Patterns-like format. Each software security Sin is structured according to the following sections: Overview, The Sin Explained, Sample Code Defect, Spotting the Defect Pattern, Spotting the Defect during Code Review, Testing the Defect during Test, Example Defects, Redemption Steps, Extra Defensive Measures, Other Resources, Summary.

The 19 chapters, or Sins, each 10-15 pages long:

1. Buffer Overflows
2. Format String problems
3. SQL injection
4. Command injection
5. Failure to handle errors
6. Cross-site scripting
7. Failing to protect network traffic
8. Use of "magic" URLs and hidden forms
9. Improper use of SSL
10. Use of weak password-based systems
11. Failing to store and protect data
12. Information leakage
13. Improper file access
14. Integer range errors
15. Trusting network address information
16. Signal race conditions
17. Unauthenticated key exchange
18. Failing to use cryptographically strong random numbers
19. Poor usability

(via Dana Epp)