Mastodawn

Spike

465 Followers

592 Following

2.8K Posts

I am a meat popsicle.

This is Andrew Brandt's non-work profile, where I may discuss information security topics as well as non-infosec things that are on my mind.

I'm a malware researcher and writer about security topics for an infosec vendor, and a volunteer docent at the Media Archaeology Lab retrocomputing lab (@mediaarchaeologylab) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. I hack old stuff and also, occasionally, fix it. Drinker of beer, player of videogames, and nerdcore enthusiast.

Earlier in my career I was a journalist, but always a technologist. I worked for PC World and MacUser magazines as an editor. I was also a staff writer for the UC Berkeley student-run newspaper, the Daily Californian. In the mid-90s I worked for KRON-TV in San Francisco on a tech magazine show called Next Step that was syndicated internationally on Discovery networks.

For purely malware- and security-related toots, please follow @threatresearch

Meat popsicle?	YES!
State of residence	Colorado
State of my office	disarray
Pets	none
Favorite form of archaeology	media

More BSOD should include music.

I was fooling around with a "new" Windows 98 machine at @mediaarchaeologylab and started up a Simpsons game. It played fine for a while but the system isn't perfectly stable, so it eventually crashed...with the Simpsons theme continuing playing in the background.

Seems super accurate TBH. Has their ever been a Simpsons opener where they flip on the TV and it bluescreens? Might be a missed opportunity.

#retrocomputing #retrogaming #Windows98 #BSOD

Good move, Amtrak! Come on, corporations—do the right thing here; it’s actually good for business too!

Amtrak is slashing executive bonuses to give out $900 apiece to over 18,000 rank-and-file workers
https://fortune.com/2025/12/12/amtrak-bonuses-for-18000-workers-900-apiece/

Amtrak is slashing executive bonuses to give out $900 apiece to over 18,000 rank-and-file workers

"This long-overdue recognition of the employees who keep the railroad moving is a step in the right direction,” said union leader Mark Wallace.

Fortune

Got SnapMail 2.0.3 successfully sending messages between my SE and IIfx. Gonna try it on the 6500 next to see if it works all the way up to Mac OS 9.

There's two possible limitations to getting this to run on #GlobalTalk:

1. The download from the Garden is a 21-day trial, and doesn't seem to have any way to enter a serial number. Maybe there's a way to crack it?

2. There doesn't seem to be a way to select an AppleTalk zone - so I'm not sure if it's looking at just my zone for recipients, or looking across all zones.

EDIT: see subsequent posts in this thread, both limitations have been addressed. There is a crack available now, and all AppleTalk zones are always scanned.

#RetroComputing #VintageMac

Spike

Dec 13

historic drystone sheep dyke Dec 13

Currently contemplating modifying a fair isle sweater so that all the repeated motifs are system 6 default desktop patterns

Malicious VSCode Marketplace extensions hid trojan in fake PNG file https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/malicious-vscode-marketplace-extensions-hid-trojan-in-fake-png-file/

Malicious VSCode Marketplace extensions hid trojan in fake PNG file

A stealthy campaign with 19 extensions on the VSCode Marketplace has been active since February, targeting developers with malware hidden inside dependency folders.

BleepingComputer

Spike

Dec 13

Dr Paris (he/him)Dec 13

posted about my Apple ID woes, please share widely?

https://hey.paris/posts/appleid/

20 Years of Digital Life, Gone in an Instant, thanks to Apple

Summary: A major brick-and-mortar store sold an Apple Gift Card that Apple seemingly took offence to, and locked out my entire Apple ID, effectively bricking my devices and my iCloud Account, Apple …

Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison

Spike

Dec 13