Writings on infosec, technology and life
Hey you ! Yeah you 🫵! Thanks for takin’ some time to check out my site. If you’re new around here, I suggest going back to the home page and perusing what I’ve got front-and-center. Or, maybe scrollin’ through what I’ve made available in the hamburger menu . But, if you’re more of a regular ‘round these parts, you might be interested in a few of these things you might not know about…
Okie-Dokie artichokey, let me share what’s goin’ on garden-wise the past few weeks… I have a lot more plants this year to feed, and from my research, watering with rainwater is preferrable thanks to its natural acidity and chemical-free nature. So I picked up a second rain barrel similar to the one I already had. To get it set up, I had to make a few adjustments to two of the downspouts on the…
Three months ago I shared my gardening plan for this year, and I’m here now to give updates on how it’s all been shaking out. Things got… a bit out of hand… But at least I’m finally getting my hands dirty! 🍓 🪱 🌱 🌼 🫛 🐜 🌷 ☘️ 🌱 🫐 💚 🐢 🌸 🐝 Planting Sites There’s a few distinct zones where I have been planting things. Let me talk about each individually… The main “ Garden ” 🌼 🍓 🍅 The “…
This month’s IndieWeb Carnival is hosted by Juha-Matti Santala —the theme is love letter . I’m going to write about the one and only, “ Outside ”. “ Outside what ?” You may think. Well really anywhere outside, anywhere but in(side). It’s warming up here in the ol’ northern hemisphere where I live and I like to spend as much of it as I can not indoors. You see professionally I poke at computers,…
Farewell “ Designer Vulnerabilities ”, and hello Vulnerability Garden 🪴 — the new (and improved) space for cataloguing all named vulnerabilities, attack techniques and exploits. When I first started the blog I had but two ideas for things to write about. One of those things was the list of “named” vulnerabilities. At the time, I had been working in vulnerability management and as such had dealt…
In the aftermath of the Copy Fail bug being (very unceremoniously) disclosed, the security news organization Decipher published a (maybe not serious?) “ Mt. Rushmore of branded bugs ”. The list is as follows… BEAST Heartbleed Rowhammer Meltdown And then for fun they mention Stuxnet (which is more of a worm than it is a vuln/exploit). My Mt. Rushmore of Branded Bugs I consider myself a bit of a…
“AI” is making me, and a lot of other people sad. This collection of links will give you an idea why… ⚠️ WARNING !: Click on these links at your own peril. They’re likely to make you even more sad. How is AI harming us? AI Job Grief: The Unnamed Psychological Crisis Hitting Tech Workers Claude-powered AI coding agent deletes entire company database in 9 seconds — backups zapped, after Cursor tool…
I don’t think I really know when it happened—the “ burnout ”. It’s not something that happens all at once. Maybe you see it coming, you start to spot the signs. Or, if you’re like me, you don’t know it’s happened until months or years after being mired in the after-effects. I would slip … in … and out, of the conscious realization that I was indeed burned out . There were times I found myself very…
I recently came across MAESTRO —billed as a “ novel threat modeling framework designed specifically for the unique challenges of Agentic AI. ” I fancy myself a bit of a collector of threat modeling frameworks , so of course I decided to dig into the writeup to see what innovative ideas it brings that are uniquely applicable to the world of agentic AI systems. TL;DR —I don’t think its approach, the…
Howdy y’all 🧑🌾! Spring is just around the corner and as such, I’ve started thinking about what I’m goin’ to do gardenin’-wise in 2026. Last year was the first time I’ve ever tried to grow anything , so I wasn’t particularly ambitious . I grew some cherokee purple heirloom tomatoes which turned out amazing , and I harvested some blueberries from a bush that was already in the yard from before I…
The year is 2026. AI has hollowed out what little humanity remained within the enshittified husks of the big tech slums us mortals digitally reside. Our privacy has been laid waste, our identities subjugated, our voices silenced, and our (digital) world sterilized. But this need not be our fate . A web revolution has begun my friends. What was once the nascent spark of a long lost web, is now a…
This month’s IndieWeb Carnival is Intersecting Interests . After giving it some thought, I’m not sure I have a particularly outstanding pair of intersecting interests , but there’s plenty of li’l junctions to speak of. Let’s see what I’ve got… Travel x Food : An obvious one sure, but I do really love to travel and I think my favorite part has always been exploring the local cuisine. Some standouts…
Here’s a blogging challenge inspired by theresmiling . “100 webmaster questions”, let’s go! 1. Please introduce yourself. I am shellsharks and shellsharks means me ! (IRL, folks call me Mike .) 2. How long have you been making websites? Since about May 2019 . 3. And what got you into the hobby? I really wanted to write this post and this post . Though my true passion for blogging and site-keeping…
I love the IndieWeb 🧡. For a lot of reasons—but one thing I particularly enjoy (as I’ve mentioned here and here for example) is the practice of “ link-dumping ”. Links are great , and in a world where search engines have just become essentially AI summary slop machines, having real , hard links to actual websites made by humans is a valuable thing. But discovery is tough. Singularly finding…
Who are you on the web? Are you what your Linkedin says you are? Or your Facebook? What about Instagram? Mastodon? TikTok? Reddit? You probably wouldn’t say any one of those is really you . Each of these represent only a fraction of our collective self on the Internet, none of them truly embodying our real, complete personage as we want it known. We rent these spaces to share our fractured selves,…
OK! Checking in now on all things garden-ey from the past few weeks… Tomato Updates The Cherokee Purple ’s have really gotten tall! Some yellow flowers here and there but no sign of fruiting as of yet. Just gotta keep on waterin’ ‘em and see what they do. 🍅 Blueberries, Blackberries, Oh my! After some serious snipping, I was able to remove all of the invasive honeysuckle that had managed to grow…
A place for me to keep record of my (coffee) cold brews . I’m no coffee tasting expert, but will add some notes as I go! ☕️ Brew Logs Time Bender Roaster : Weird Brothers Coffee Brew Date : 3/11/26 Tasting Notes : Was OK. Stranger Beans Roaster : Weird Brothers Coffee Brew Date : 2/21/26 Tasting Notes : Loved it. Very flavorful and fresh. Need to get this one again. Catoctin Coffee Company Roaster…
It’s time. I’m gettin’ into gardening . Have I grown anything ever ? Nope. Do I simply adore the taste of a garden-fresh tomato? 100% . So , as is my custom, I’m going to attempt to document the journey—to include all the successes, failures, and hopefully delicious moments along the way. I don’t know what I’ll do with this “series” long-term. (Hopefully) if this whole gardening thing works out,…
Here’s a blogging challenge kicked off by Forking Mad . Here’s 10 “pointless” questions, and their answers, from me! Do you floss your teeth? Yes . Though not as routinely as I used to. You see, some time ago I had my top-back-molars on both sides of my mouth pulled. They had long bothered me—I couldn’t eat much of anything without food getting stuck inbetween those teeth and the set in front of…
Here’s my submission to lazybea.rs series Over/Under . The idea is simple, Hyde gives me some topics and I state whether those things are overrated or underrated , with some text about why. Here were my chosen topics… Indieweb Slashpages Sharks are dangerous Ransomware Octopus dishes Go read this post over at lazybea.rs ! Over/Under with Shellsharks IndieWeb By most , the IndieWeb is severely…
Did you know if you have your own website, you can do whatever you want with it? Like … it doesn’t have to be all snobby or professional. Or like … some of it can, but some of it could just not be, y’know? Check this s*** out for example. I went positively rogue on this page. Then , I slapped my derpy turtle shark thing there ⤴. For NO reason. Isn’t he breathtaking? Does this post look good? Stop.…
The CVE program is dying . Damn . 1 What does this mean? What were CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) doin’ for us anyway? Are CVEs considered critical cybersecurity infrastructure? What are we gunna’ do now?! Panic !! Read on for more hyper-composed and ever-well-researched analysis! (Plus, plenty of related resources, per usual.) Disclaimer : It's more than likely I get something wrong…
Much digital ink has been spilt on the plight of the cybersecurity workforce. Is there a talent shortage? A skills gap? Other , darker issues? Here’s what I think… The “Talent Shortage” First, some back story… When I was getting started in infosec, back in 2010- ish , I remember the on-radio campaigns which spoke of endless opportunity in the up-and-coming “cybersecurity” field. Over time, the…
This month I’ve decided to participate in my first IndieWeb Carnival —a once-a-month writing prompt organized by the IndieWeb.org community. This month’s prompt is “ Renewal ”, hosted by Jamie Thingelstad . There’s a lot on my mind lately in regards to this term—“Renewal”. I recently moved into a new house and with it I have a yard. The yard has a lot of plants and trees that are now…
If you’ve got something to say, something to share, something that others might be interested in—why not just put it on your blog ? Someone ask a question on social media that you want to answer? Write about it on your blog and link to it in your reply thread. Post anything to social media? Archive it to your blog. Have an interesting, random thought? Write about it on your blog. Remember a weird…
This week’s Blog Questions Challenge is called “ Nature Appreciation ”. Here are the questions… What’s the silliest animal you’ve ever seen in nature? If you could have any plant’s superpower, what would it be and why? What’s your favorite sound of nature and where did you last hear it? If you could design your own perfect little nature spot, what would it include? Silliest Animal I’ve Seen The…
Home is a place of comfort. Home has that particular smell . Home is where our stuff is. Its halls you know so well. It’s where we gather with friends, and the decor is uniquely you. It may have cracks in the foundations, and another issue or two. It won’t ever be perfect, always a work-in-progress. But home is home, and you love it nonetheless. A website, your own personal website, is just like…
Indieweb.txt is an idea for sharing information about one’s indie site with the world. It is a proposal which resembles other plain-text, web-bourne, information-sharing documents such as humans.txt and security.txt . As initially proposed, it would contain information such as the tools one uses to implement IndieWeb capabilities, information on Indie-Web-related strategies employed by the…
This is the Manual of Style for Shellsharks.com. It details the conventions and other practices used for writing, editing, styling and generally composing content across the site. It is worth noting that adherence to stated stylistic rules and principles is not uniform, either because I’ve failed to follow them or have purposefully deviated from a normal writing practice. So pardon the anomalies !…
Here’s a list of things I wish I had known before I set out on my blogging / site-making / IndieWeb journey. (In no particular order) Had I known these, and carefully considered each, I would have saved myself A LOT of time fixing stuff, and even now, would have a lot less things to fix and add. For example, my CSS files are a mess, I have a lot of poorly managed inline .JS everywhere,…
Here’s another Blog Questions Challenge . This week , it’s all about Travel Adventures ! Here are the questions… What’s the silliest souvenir you’ve ever brought back from a trip? If you could teleport anywhere right now, for a day trip, where would you go? What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever tried while traveling? What’s the most memorable “wrong turn” you’ve taken on an adventure? Silliest…
My site is over 5 years old at this point, and in that time I have had several noteworthy site redesigns . In between those big remodels, I’ve also been near-constantly tweaking design elements, and tinkering with the CSS styling . Along the way, I’ve discovered certain site decor and design choices that I think are pleasing. Now I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which makes…
I am procrastinating . Like , right now I’m doing it. I’ve got a ton of other more important things to work on - at home, at my job, even for my site. I gotta do taxes for example, * blegh *! But , I kinda don’t have the energy, or don’t feel like it , or just saw something else shiny to work on instead (e.g. this post). I am great at procrastinating. World-class even. This site makes for a…
Documented below are the guiding principles by which I approach how I work on, and write for shellsharks . These tenets are foundational across my site and are core to who I am as a human . My site is meant to be fun —for me, and for whomever comes here. So I purposefully imbue this site with an unapologetic whimsy . It’s a place to be uniquely me —my aesthetic , my writing style , my art , my…
I enjoy writing, it’s why I have this blog. But my style is far from perfect in the technical sense. I’m very aware of the many interesting and possibly unique writing quirks and habits I have. So , here I reflect on and catalog those distinct writing mannerisms . I think my most prevalent (bad) habit is run-on sentences , they are everywhere! I consider my style of writing to be very…
Joan Westenberg recently published a (relatively short) post titled “ The Only Metrics That Matter ” where she calls out a number of toxic metrics that a lot of sites and site-owners obsess over, i.e. page views, time-on-site, bounce rates, etc.. She (expertly, as usual) calls out that these are the focus because of the ad-supported business model that the modern web survives on, and that that…
Taking on the Blog Questions Challenge Bot ’s challenge about Movies , which asks these four questions… What’s a movie you can practically quote from start to finish? If you could live in any movie universe, which would you choose? What’s the most ridiculous movie plot you’ve ever seen? What movie snack is an absolute must-have for you? What’s a movie you can practically quote from start to…
Greetings weary hyper space link traveler, welcome to shellsharks dot com , a world of whimsy , infosec, technology, life , and of course, sharks ! Now that you’re here, have a byte and refuel, maybe partake in some inter stellar web idea trade (e.g. email me about somethin’! ), and when you’re ready to depart, I offer many <a> portal outward and onward, into the expanse of space the web! I love…
Blog question challenge is back! This time, it’s all about TV Shows . But first , how did we get here? Well , I asked the Fediverse … Post by @shellsharks@shellsharks.social View on Mastodon …and the Fediverse ( or more specifically, Jcrabapple ) responded ! Post by @jcrabapple@dmv.community View on Mastodon You can follow blog_challenge@beep.town to get future posts about blog challenges! Thanks…
A lot of people worry that no one will read their blog . I did too. But it turns out, not only did people find and read what I had to say, but they were nice enough to tell me they liked it too. This post is all about that. Kindness . I’m very appreciative of everyone who has taken the time to reach out and let me know they liked something they saw on my site. Thank you! 🧡 Below is just a log of…
Similar to the Google Doodles , my site has its Shellsharks Doodles . They are celebrations of various events and holidays throughout the year, each designed by me using the Assembly app. Some of the doodles are merely thematic additions to the plain shellsharks logo, while others completely re-visualize the symbology throughout. These doodles go up and replace the classic doodle at the…
Every website you go to has a home page , the page you land on when you go to that site’s root domain, i.e. for Shellsharks , when you go to “ https://shellsharks.com ”. Since 2021 my home page has had a very simple design - the logo , some link icons and the classic list of recent posts. In January of 2024 I simplified it even further, rearranging some graphics and removing the icons, filing them…
A few days ago I confidently stated that “ unified timelines are not for me ”, but I think I may have been a bit too hasty in that declaration. I’ve been tinkering around with Tapestry for a few days now, trying to find a way to fit it into my daily feed ingestion workflow and I think I’m starting to discover its niche for me. This doesn’t really change what I said in that previous post, Tapestry…
You got yourself a domain, you found a place to host your site, it’s up and running! Now what? There’s A LOT you can do with a website. I mean you can pretty much do anything y’know? But here’s what I recommend you do first , before anything else. Put some sort of contact information on your site, maybe even on your home page. This contact info could be an email, or a social media handle. It’s…
Several unified, social-web-forward, chronological timeline apps have popped up recently. Notably Reeder (not to be confused with Reeder Classic ), Tapestry & Surf . Though these apps differ in many ways, they have these core commonalities… They support mixed-content/heterogenous feeds (e.g. podcasts, YouTube, Mastodon , Pixelfed, Bluesky, Glass, Flickr, Reddit, RSS, Tumblr and more) All feeds are…
The world is a dangerous place, and complexity abounds, moreso today it seems than it ever has been. Navigating a world filled with AI-fueled disinformation, corporate-backed algorithmic control, political information silos and worse is no easy feat. So how can we trust what we see? How can we communicate safely? How can we protect ourselves in a digital warzone? How can we build and sustain our…
Came across this great post on rachelbythebay.com titled, Web page annoyances that I don't inflict on you here and it got me thinking, does my site avoid all these annoying things ? Are there other annoying things that I encounter on the web that my site doesn’t do? Are there, * gulp *, things my site does that are annoying? DISCLAIMER: I've stolen some of the things from Rachel's list and added…
* Takes a breath. * STOP . Please . Just stop. No more. We as a community (the infosec community) must band together and collectively agree to stop creating new phishing name variants. It’s gone too far . There’s too many! Won’t someone think of the aspiring CISSPs? In addition to cramming fire suppression factoids and bollard types into their heads, they will also need to memorize every god…
The latest in the IndieWeb community’s blog challenges is the Music Questions Challenge . Similar to the last blogging challenge I did, it consists of a series of questions that I’ll answer throughout. I got the idea from Flamed Fury & The Shrediverse (though no one “tagged” me, I’m goin’ for it anyway). Music Challenge Questions Here are the 10 questions that make up the “ Music Questions…
The gauntlet was thrown , and I’ve answered. Get to know a little bit more about my blog as I answer these 8 questions . ( Courtesy of The Hive ) Blog Challenge Questions Here are the 8 questions that make up the “ Blog Questions Challenge ” Why did you start blogging in the first place? What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it? Have you blogged on other platforms…