A bit dated, but still a good read with thought-provoking ideas about things not to do in the name of security.
- Default Permit
- Enumerating Badness
- Penetrate and Patch
- Hacking is Cool
- Educating Users
- Action is Better Than Inaction
http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/editorials/dumb/
I learned something new today: I’ve always wondered why “portable lamps” (like those you place on your desk or around your house for lighting) have polarized plugs. We know the neutral and hot lines are completely interchangeable on purely resistive loads, so this has never made sense to me.
Today I learned the answer. I was listening to APC’s White Paper Podcast episode number 21: Neutral Wire Facts and Mythology. Apparently the reasoning is something like this: Lamp sockets expose charged electrodes which are accessible to fingers, which is against the US Electrical Code. Because of this, it’s necessary to minimize risks by ensuring the live electrode is the button contact at the bottom of the socket, where it’s less likely a finger will touch if the socket is live and without a bulb.
Interesting, huh?