Mastodawn

jbaggs

@jbaggs@infosec.exchange

235 Followers

172 Following

169 Posts

I've been in and out of information security professionally, but somehow always have related projects. Mainly working with zeek and network level detection at the moment. SDR, cycling, and climbing enthusiast.

I boost a lot. Topics range far and wide from security and "the cybers" and may include politics, food, humor, science, law, nature, art, and other sundry unsavories. I occasionally post my own projects and thoughts.

Pronouns	he / him
Github	https://github.com/jbaggs
Age	Somewhere between Bianchi green and Soekris green

MissConstrue 22h ago

Hey, so this is a strange question. I have been able to do genealogy on the patriarchal side of my family who were Dutch and European back to about 1100, where the records are hard to find and have delved into ancient forms of language I can’t read. (May I say here that amongst my regrets is that I am not the Duchess de Bitche, but gods I want that title. I promise to wear flowy black robes that swirl when I turn and everything!.)

But, do I know anyone, or anyone who knows someone that does genealogy in Eastern Europe and / or the Arabic speaking world? Not asking for free help, genealogy is not a hobby at this level, it’s a profession for which I am prepared to pay for knowledge workers.

DMs are open, so you’re not putting anyone’s name out in public if they prefer not. Thanks gang!

InfoSecSherpa 1d ago

Did I post about my pink lilies? I don't remember.

Mikael Arjuna 1d ago

People cross Elisabeth Bridge during the Budapest Pride March in Hungary. (Photograph: Bernadett Szab / Reuters)

Uncle Duke 5d ago

but the nectarines think you’re kind of an asshole

Matt Blaze 1d ago

Aside from the grift, the thing that boils my blood is that this nonsense robs attention and credibility from legitimately real vulnerabilities in US election infrastructure.

The Colorado Sun ☀️1d ago

The right of birthright citizenship will continue in Colorado — even as a Supreme Court ruling on Friday could allow President Donald Trump to at least temporarily end the practice in other states amid an ongoing legal battle, according to Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

https://coloradosun.com/2025/06/27/birthright-citizenship-colorado-supreme-court-ruling/

Birthright citizenship is “protected” in Colorado despite Supreme Court ruling, AG says

With the court’s 6-3 decision delivered by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the U.S. can carry out an order from Trump to end the practice of birthright citizenship in much of the country — but not in Colorado and other states — for children born after Feb. 19.

The Colorado Sun

PastaThief Jan 17, 2023

Boost if you're old enough to know why I have one of these on my computer desk.

oh no

Clint (he/him)1d ago

Sudden loss of key US satellite data could send hurricane forecasting back ‘decades’

Scientists left scrambling amid hurricane season after irreplaceable program is slotted to be shuttered

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/28/noaa-cuts-hurricane-forecasting-climate

Prof. Sam Lawler 1d ago

Wishing you peaceful llamas and gentle thunderstorms.

×

PastaThief Jan 17, 2023

Boost if you're old enough to know why I have one of these on my computer desk.

Dan Q Jan 17, 2023

@PastaThief sometimes 720k just isn't enough!

@PastaThief oooof. Never saw any uned but I can guess :)

Master of Crevettes 1d ago

@temptoetiam @PastaThief (I have one for binders, and my dad used to own the specific one used for horse races betting cards)

@MaitreCrevettes @PastaThief I suspect it was used here to punch holes in punchcards computer programs, but I might be wrong.

Bernd Herd 1d ago

@temptoetiam @MaitreCrevettes @PastaThief Maybe you had a single-sided 5 1/4" floppy drive and you punched a second hole in your floppies to be able to use the backside by placing them rotated in your floppy drive.

I did that in 1982 or so.

Single sided, 34 tracks, single density were about 80 KByte capacity per side. I still have that drive in my cellar.

Master of Crevettes 1d ago

@temptoetiam @PastaThief obviously.

(Note that some knitting machine also ran on punch cards, so you can find such items in knitting tools on Etsy I guess, though they are probably different because you punch in the middle of the card, not only on the sides like this one or the "pince à tiercé")

Master of Crevettes 1d ago

@temptoetiam @PastaThief ohlalalala 😍

https://www.reddit.com/r/specializedtools/s/W6FBBYtjQW

PastaThief 14h ago

@MaitreCrevettes @temptoetiam I actually used them mostly with floppy disks, although you could use them with punch cards, yes. :) A friend of mine actually operated a Jacquard Loom for demonstrations at the local at the local science centre for a time! (I don't know if she's still doing that.)

PastaThief 14h ago

@temptoetiam @MaitreCrevettes There are those who used them for that; I used them for making 5.25" floppies double-sided. :)

Master of Crevettes 14h ago

@PastaThief @temptoetiam trust us both to read all the comments to your post. We both live in *that* corner of the fediverse, and Abie has a thing for finding the best oddities.

Ken Butler 1d ago

@MaitreCrevettes @temptoetiam @PastaThief betting shops used to have floors "carpeted" with losing betting slips. I suppose that's all on phones these days.

Kevin P. Fleming 1d ago

@PastaThief PROTIP: These don't work on SSDs.

Hdunagan 1d ago

@kevin @PastaThief Best post of the week.

@kevin @PastaThief Underrated comment of the day.

Krista, Darth Moose Shark 1d ago

@PastaThief Oh ye gods. Another way for me to feel how old my bones are XD

Hdunagan 1d ago

@PastaThief I know what it is, but I keep three three-version on MY computer desk.

@PastaThief i was never fan of GCR. For MFM drives (of shugart flavor) you could not operate without the index pulse.
So we opened the sleeves, removed the media and drilled that 2nd index hole.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_coded_recording

Group coded recording - Wikipedia

zipkid - Breaker of Systems 1d ago

@PastaThief Like the little wad of paper to push in the hole in the side of the cassette tape :-)

Michael Weiss 1d ago

@zipkid @PastaThief I just used Scotch tape over the hole

Cegorach 1d ago

@PastaThief why you have one on your desk, now?

I have no idea... you like to feel old?

PastaThief 14h ago

@dat I mean, I still have two working 80s-era computers on my desk (an Apple IIe and an Atari 130XE).

Chad McCullough 1d ago

@PastaThief Ha! I know exactly why you have one of these on your computer desk.

Jon Quass 1d ago

@PastaThief
Classic debugger 😂

Jean-Francois Mezei 1d ago

@PastaThief the holes in punched cards or paper tape were rectangular , not round. Thinking this was perhaps used to destroy floppy disks ? (Prior to the 3.5 inch ones).

Olivier Aubert 1d ago

@jfmezei @PastaThief not destroy: double their capacity

Jean-Francois Mezei 1d ago

@olivier_aubert @PastaThief ok remember now. Turn single sided to double sided. One if the corners, right?

PastaThief 14h ago

@jfmezei @olivier_aubert On the side a bit beneath the corner, but yes. :)

Chris Bohn 1d ago

@olivier_aubert @jfmezei @PastaThief If you have poor aim, destroy

Ian Turton 14h ago

@jfmezei @PastaThief paper tape used round holes

Ross of Ottawa 1d ago

@PastaThief in case of impromptu weddings.

UkeleleEric 1d ago

@PastaThief Although it wasn't strictly necessary (punch on ticket machine), I have used one of these in the past.

Darren K. Hobbs

@PastaThief Old enough, but I was fancy. I had the one made for the task.

PastaThief 14h ago

@dkh NICE!

quadrivial 💛🇺🇦🇨🇦🇲🇽1d ago

@PastaThief takes me back to about 1984...

René Dario 1d ago

@PastaThief I do not know why.

considerate 1d ago

@PastaThief you'll face consequences for stealing artifacts from museums! 😅

James Donohoe 1d ago

My floppy of choice back in the day...when I could afford them.

PastaThief 14h ago

@JamesMDonohoe Elephant was nice, although I was a bit of a Dysan afficianado.

James Donohoe 6h ago

@PastaThief Yepper - Dysan also a fantastic choice.

Murphestophelese MurphMeister 1d ago

@PastaThief I recall punching holes in the case with one of these, in my old computers, to reduce weight, and therefore increase speed.

ZenHeathen 🏳️‍🌈1d ago

Audrey Winter 1d ago

@ZenHeathen @PastaThief "So do (I) you!"

Gemma ⭐️🔰🇺🇸 🇵🇭 🎐1d ago

@PastaThief kinky!

Athena L.M.1d ago

@PastaThief I am not old enough, but it's for making 5.25in diskettes double-sided, right?

PastaThief 14h ago

rk: it’s hyphen-minus actually 1d ago

You can make the flip side usable or, if you’re bad enough at it, both sides unusable.

Shriram Krishnamurthi 1d ago

@rk I see all the references to 5.25" floppies, which I knew well, but I have never used a punch with one. What does it do with a floppy?
@PastaThief

rk: it’s hyphen-minus actually 1d ago

@shriramk @PastaThief

http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/F/flippy.html

You could use a hole punch to make another write notch on the other side of a single-sided floppy, doubling your disk space (though at the time most drives could only read one side at a time).

Some disks were also shipped without a write notch at all, so that you couldn’t replace whatever was on them; a hole punch gave you a free reusable floppy!

flippy

@rk I used to own a square hole punch that had a spacer that aligned the floppy to the exact position for the hole. I was a hit at the BBS parties, let me tell ya.

@shriramk @PastaThief

rk: it’s hyphen-minus actually 1d ago

@4raylee @shriramk @PastaThief

Don’t forget to take some Tylenol for your back.

PastaThief 15h ago

@4raylee @rk @shriramk Those were SWEET.

Shriram Krishnamurthi 1d ago

@rk
Wait, this was true of *all* 5.25"s? I'm shocked that I never heard of this before, seems startling to miss a trick like this in India, when we could barely afford one floppy!
@PastaThief