Stripe is running a web security capture the flag - a series of increasingly difficult web security exploit challenges. I've finished it and had a lot of fun. Working on a web browser I knew the theory of these various web based attacks, but this was my first chance
to put theory into practice with:
No adverse consequences
Knowledge that there is a fun security exploit to find
Access to the server side source code
Here's a blog post on the CTF behind the scenes setup which has many impressive features including
phantom users that can be XSS/CSRF'ed.
I'll have another post on my difficulties and answers for the CTF levels after the contest is over on Wed, but if you're looking for hints, try out the CTF chatroom or the level specific CTF chatroom.
2010 Sep 14, 2:24Good idea and solves some of the head lamp problems: "...Enter the Hand Lights, a pretty simple and cheap DIY project that puts adjustable lights on your forearms to light whatever is in your hands."lightdiyhandhead-lamptool
2010 Jan 25, 5:25"...file a complaint with the World Trade Organization, contesting China’s internet censorship as a breach of the international trade rules to which China, as a WTO member, is subject. The US can
argue that China’s “Great Firewall”–a system of filters and bottlenecks that effectively shutters the country within its own intranet–is an illegal restraint on international trade because it bars
foreign companies from competing, via the internet, in the vast Chinese market."economicswtopoliticsgooglechinainternetcensorshipus
2009 Dec 11, 9:00"Organizers for the 15th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (IFComp 2009), a contest centered around short text adventures lasting under two hours, recently announced this year's winners: Rover's
Day Out, Broken Legs, and Snowquest."ifinteractive-fictiongamefictiontext
2009 Dec 3, 2:20"We're pleased to announce the overall winners in the Android Developer Challenge 2. These winners were selected after two rounds of scoring by thousands of Android users as well as an official panel
of judges. Please see our official page for more information about the challenge."cellphoneandroidgoogleappcontest
2009 Feb 2, 11:52"Chessboxing: Created in 2003 by Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh, chess boxing has 11 rounds of alternated boxing and chess. In first round, which lasts four minutes, contestants initiate the chess match.
A two-minute boxing round follows. Rounds alternate until one of the players gets a checkmate or a knockout."humorartchessboxingsportvia:boingboingvideoyoutube
2008 Oct 13, 2:35"The robotics community outdid itself once again at DARPA's 2007 Urban Challenge. This contest featured all the challenges of the original Grand Challenge, along with a few new ones: the vehicles
navigated a simulated urban environment and were required to interact with human-driven vehicles while obeying all traffic laws. Six teams successfully completed the course, with Boss, a car
developed at Carnegie Mellon, claiming the prize." Sure, sure but when will they fly?articlerobotcarsciencetechnologytransportationai
2008 Sep 15, 1:50This just in: people on the Internet are complaining. Also Radiohead has a remix contest. Neat. "No good deed goes unpunished. After letting fans pay whatever they wanted for In Rainbows and
releasing stem tracks via iTunes so that one of the songs on the record could be remixed, Radiohead is facing accusations that its "Nude" remix contest is unfair."musicwiredradioheadremixcontest
2008 Sep 5, 1:56This is the game from the same person I linked to previously who has a son named Link: "I'm very excited to finally announce our first game, Liight, for WiiWare! So... what is it? Liight is a puzzle
solving game where the pieces are colored lights and the goal is to make cool music! Anyone can play! Just illuminate all the targets in each puzzle with light of the matching color... but it's not
always so easy! You'll have to mix colors, cast shadows and make the most of your limited resources to solve these brain teasers. Solve 100 challenging puzzles! Create your own puzzles, and Share
them with your friends via WiiConnect24. Host a Contest to see who can solve your puzzle the fastest. If you're ready, take on Nonstop mode, a whole new way to play where arcade-style scoring meets
split-second strategy!"liightgamevideogamenintendowiiwiiware
2008 Feb 11, 3:05Why major carmakers won't want to participate in the Automotive X Prize, a contest to develop a 100mpg car.xprizecontestblogpostanalysiscarx-prize
2007 Oct 22, 4:47I purchased the Orange Box off of Steam a bit ago and like
others before me who have discussed elsewhere, I already owned two of the five games that come from the Orange Box. However, the combined price of
HL2E2 and Portal, the two games I actually wanted was supposedly equivalent to the price of the Orange Box bundle. Incidentally, if anyone would like HL2 or HL2E1 I can gift them to you.
HL2E2 was excellent of course but the big surprise for me was Portal. (Mild spoilers follow) It has a sort of zen simplicity: there are a few simple game-play mechanics, a handful of textures and
objects, and a deceptively simple story all used well and tied together to produce an entertaining and polished game. It seems a bit short but its probably better to end with the gamer demanding
more. The humor and the sort of play within a play aspect of the game is what really sold me though. It has the funniest ending theme I've heard (also blogged by the creator). The voices of the automated turrets are so adorable I would feel compelled to hug them if they weren't
always trying to kill me. Additionally the weighted companion cube seems like an experiment in understanding gamers'
attachment to NPCs. In this case the NPC is a box and yet I still felt awful incinerating it. The whole time I was vaguely reminded of Solitary the reality show
that sticks contestants alone in small rooms forcing them to endure various tests all the while being watched by a humorous computer with a female voice. Someone should sue...
2007 May 17, 4:33FTA: 'The key to the biggest number contest is not swift penmanship, but rather a potent paradigm for concisely capturing the gargantuan.'articleeducationmathsciencehumorcsc
I purchased the Orange Box off of Steam a bit ago and like
others before me who have discussed elsewhere, I already owned two of the five games that come from the Orange Box. However, the combined price of
HL2E2 and Portal, the two games I actually wanted was supposedly equivalent to the price of the Orange Box bundle. Incidentally, if anyone would like HL2 or HL2E1 I can gift them to you.
Yo' mama contest with Sigmund Freud 
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