On Message with Ben Gross

SSH is the de facto way to establish a secure connection with a command line interface. It is an essential too for people who regularly manage Unix servers, networking gear, and a variety of other devices.
There are now three SSH clients that will work on any iPhone or iPod Touch with access to the iPhone [...]

Basic HTML-based forms are ubiquitous on the web. They are used for everything from service sign ups to collecting demographic information to opinion surveys. The forms are created a variety of methods including applications such as Dreamweaver, hosted services such as Zoho Creator, and hand coding in PHP or another template language. Recently, I wanted [...]

I have been hosting my own DNS for at least a decade. I recently switched to DNS Made Easy and have been happy with the service. I have also used EveryDNS as a no-frills secondary DNS service for years and recommend it.
I began evaluating commercial DNS services and found DNS Made Easy. The management interface [...]

Briefly, 1Password is an application to manage passwords and auto-fill web forms for the Mac, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch. At first pass, the functionality may not sound exciting, unless you are like me and you sit down and think about how many times a day you type in different combinations of usernames and [...]

USENIX, the Advanced Computing Systems Association is a professional organization that puts on more than twenty conferences a year including the USENIX Security Symposium, Large Installation System Administration Conference (LISA), and the USENIX Annual Technical Conference.

I have been a member of the USENIX professional association for many years now and I pleased to be able [...]

It is human nature to dislike paperwork. I recently had the displeasure of having to deal with a quantity amount of paperwork that included a mixture of PDF, Microsoft Word, and printed documents. Virtually, none of the PDF or Word files were created as fill out forms, and unfortunately most of the PDF files were [...]

Recently, I found myself needing broadband connectivity in places where I could not find a wired or WiFi connection for my laptop. I have become used to having ubiquitous data on my phone. I do not have the option to tether my computer to my phone to the computer and even if I did I [...]

Recently, the OpenDNS, a free public DNS resolution service, recently launched DNS-O-Matic that allows users to register and push changes to their dynamically assigned IP addresses to multiple dynamic DNS services.
The majority of consumer broadband services assign users dynamic IP addresses rather than static IP addresses. These addresses routinely change. Typically devices on a home [...]

I’ve been experimenting with a Firefox extension called CoScripter (formerly Koala). It’s still a research project that is hosted on IBM AlphaWorks, but you can see potential. Essentially, it records browser actions (mostly with forms) into a human readable and human editable scripting language. These scripts can then be replayed in the browser and modified [...]

Boingo Wireless began offering a flat-rate WiFi hotspot service called Boingo Global for international jetseters earlier this year. The service is $39 a month for unlimited use. There are no contracts, setup fees, termination fees, or roaming fees. For frequent international travelers the pricing is very competitive as there are no additional roaming fees for [...]