Ryan Castellucci :nonbinary_flag: / is on Nostr

Hacker. Cryptography geek. Bureaucramancer. Ex-sysadmin. Expat (US⮕UK).

I'm suing the UK for more gender, please help with my legal bills: https://enby.org.uk

My continuing mission:
To explore strange new platforms.
To seek out new bugs and new software.
To boldly shitpost where no one has shitposted before!

#hacker #nonbinary

Pronouns: they/them
Location: London, UK
Website: https://rya.nc
Github: https://github.com/ryancdotorg
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/rya.nc

Last Notes

2024-09-07 23:12:31

> Here’s a shockingly-common login process I witness, Get to a login pag, Click “I forgot my password", Go to their email, Click the recovery link, Type a throwaway password they won’t retain, Rinse, and repeat
The author ponders why, though I am not of the group this is typically asked of.
I do sometimes do this with sites I use extremely infrequently, especially ones which I am not sure I'll use again.
Passwords are a bad authentication method, and some sites aren't worth the time to put an entry in my password manager.
I wouldn't have even made that account unless I'd been forced to.
https://rubenerd.com/the-email-is-authentication-pattern/

2024-06-14 17:10:12

It appears that my gender was changed in the only UK government database that claims to have a record of my "legal gender"... over six months ago.
This is hilarious, apparently fuzzing bureaucracies with paperwork is viable.

2024-06-14 05:58:31

Tools that "randomize your browser fingerprint" make you easier to track.
Walk into a shop every day with different random clown makeup so they can't track your purchases? Sure, it changes, but you're identifiable by the fact that hardly anyone wears clown makeup!

2024-05-25 07:14:59

I ordered some single mode fiber optics from fs.com (which is, as I understand it, the pre-enshitification monoprice of enterprise network paraphernalia) and I have been assigned an account representative.
Me: Thank you for getting in touch. Please understand that I am a weird nerd who has single mode fiber plant at home, this is for my personal use. I DO NOT HAVE PURCHASING AUTHORITY OR INFLUENCE AT MY EMPLOYER!

2024-05-12 09:54:14

The perfect URL shortener doesn't exi—
https://llili.li/

2024-05-07 17:15:11

Somehow David Tennant manages to be hotter now than he was as the tenth doctor...
https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/05/07/david-tennant-speaks-out-weaponising-trans-rights/

2024-04-30 11:42:59

I think I should make t-shirts.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/359/983/675/973/678/original/07ec878149d9c6dd.png

2024-04-24 16:34:13

- reply

They used to have different pension ages based on gender, but that has been completely phased out as of 2019.
They do recognise that nonbinary people exist in many circumstances, but insist that this cannot be one's "legal gender".

2024-04-24 11:33:42

I've been granted permission to appeal in my case seeking legal recognition as nonbinary under UK law!
https://www.leighday.co.uk/news/news/2024-news/nonbinary-us-citizen-granted-permission-to-appeal-ruling-over-gender-recognition-certificate/

2024-04-24 03:18:08

Prior to Dan's death, the last person I was close to who I lost was my grandfather in 2004, and at least I knew that was coming (skin cancer). Before that, my grandmother in 1994. Losing her was really hard. After my grandfather passed I remember being utterly distraught for a week or so, but not much else.
Maybe that extended reprise from grief left me especially vulnerable.
I don't know.
But I still cry most of the time when I think about Dan.
And then two suicides last year.

2024-04-23 15:40:25

I really cannot overstate how much I miss Dan Kaminsky, and how much impact he had on my life.
Seeing him speak at DEF CON 12 back in 2004 was inspiring.
Then in 2007, we were seated next to each other on a plane as part of a group trip called "Hackers on a Plane". He brought rubber snakes for the occasion.
We talked for hours. Over the next few years, I'd say at conferences and chat for a few minutes at most, but he remembered me. At another Hackers on a Plane event in 2011, we stayed in a room together. Much later, I found out that this was deliberate - the organizers thought having me to talk to would keep him out of trouble.
Again, we talked for hours. He gave me his phone number so we could keep in touch. Over the years, he gave me advice, discussed ideas with me, and made introductions to help me fix things.
Then, in 2013, something major came up in some of my side research. I called him, told him I didn't want to discuss it over the phone, and he agreed to meet me. Not long after, he floated the idea of hiring me. I ended up joining the startup he co-founded, then called "Bot or Not", later renamed to "White Ops", and then renamed again to "Human Security". He didn't really seem to have a solid plan for what I was supposed to do, but I figured it out.
I wanted to present my research at DEF CON in 2015 so he helped me prepare a submission and got me a coach to train me on interacting with the press and speaking.
When my partner wanted to move to London in 2019, he wrote me an amazing letter in support my visa application - which was approved.
He was one of the first people I came out to as nonbinary, and we even discussed my transition plans.
He was always supportive, and he will always be missed.

2024-04-16 21:26:55

- reply

were those the ones that your apartment complex installed?

2024-04-15 09:08:03

I regret not doing more to condemn and attack Brendan Eich.
(this post is in reference to Marc Andreessen expressing regret for "not doing more to support and defend Brendan Eich")
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/01/mozilla-ceo-brendan-eich-refuses-to-quit
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/02/controversial-mozilla-ceo-made-donations-right-wing-candidates-brendan-eich

2024-03-26 08:13:01

Patent law has a term that I find to be a fantastic tool for thinking about threat actors:
"person of ordinary skill in the art"
even if they have *some* extraordinary skills, they will still make *lots* of ordinary engineering decisions.

2024-03-26 08:00:12

Developers should make "abuser stories" a thing.
"As an stalker,
I want to track my ex's every move,
so that I can 'coincidentally' run into them at any time."
"As a thief,
I want to be able to reset passwords using SMS verification,
so that I can compromise any account by bribing a telco employee."

2024-03-21 13:15:38

"Your parcel is now with your local Evri courier" comes across like the start of a ransom note.