The Young Man and the C Reloaded

The Young Man and the C Reloaded

What if I told you that most or all nontrivial C and C++ programs you have ever written were just illusions? Most such programs contain undefined behavior, and undefined behavior is at the heart of most C and C++ security problems, yet few programmers understand how far down that rabbit hole goes. We will swallow the red pill and study the nature and extent of undefined behavior in C and C++, techniques for writing more secure, reliable C and C++ in spite of the reality of undefined behavior and other mischief, and little-used compiler flags and other tools to detect and/or eliminate bugs.

Dustin Laurence Bio

Intending to become a programmer ("developer" hadn't been invented by the marketing department yet), Dustin got sidetracked and spent more time than he cares to admit doing theoretical physics, a background filled with continuous mathematics almost entirely irrelevant to computer science. He eventually returned to his original love of programming, and though they probably won't admit it currently hacks code for Whitemoon Dreams, Inc. He avoids social media for the same reason he doesn't do crack cocaine.


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Custom Computer Projects

Abstract:

One of the many strengths of Linux is that it runs on commodity hardware from an extensive PC ecosystem. We have the freedom to assemble components in a way that is customized for our own specific needs. And now we can easily continue our customization to the physical form factor, thanks to recent advances lowering the cost of fabrication technologies like 3D printing and laser cutting. Not just the cosmetic art of the "case mod" audience, either: motivated tinkerers can build functionally useful creations and share them with the world.

We will walk through several custom computer projects, starting with the "Luggable PC" seen at recent SGVLUG meetups. Each project has its own motivation, design constraints, and undergo several iterations to refine the idea. The latest version of each project will be available for hands-on examination, some accompanied by their predecessors to show design evolution.

Bio:

Roger Cheng grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and studied Computer Science at UCLA. Upon graduation he moved out of town for a 16 year career in (closed- source) commercial software development. Seeking a change of pace, he quit and moved back. Now he is having a great time exploring the world of open-source and meeting local enthusiasts.

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Raspberry Pi, VOIP, and Amateur Radio

Abstract:

The Raspberry Pi has become a favorite of Amateur Radio operators world-wide. Although most of the development on projects is occurring outside of the United States, there are a significant number of products and hacks available. Repeater controllers, VOIP servers, and even turning your Pi into a transceiver is possible and is being done.

Bio:

Paul J. Wilkinson, K6IG, holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Durham University (UK), and is currently a Professor of Computer Science at Pasadena City College. During the course of his career, he has worked for "think tanks," the United States Navy, law enforcement, did consulting, and has over 35 years experience in higher education. Since obtaining his first license over 30 years ago, he has been involved in several Amateur Radio clubs, amateur TV, and supported communications for the Rose Parade (TORRA) for about 20 years until it was disbanded.

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SGVLUG/SGVHAK BBQ #5

You and your friends and family are invited to the SGVLUG & SGVHAK potluck BBQ on Saturday, June 10th from 4pm to 9pm to Lan's house in the city of San Gabriel.

Please RSVP on the Google form by Thursday, June 8th.

https://goo.gl/forms/ur1RpuzBd1A9cOHH2


NASA World Wind

This month, we are hosted by Everbridge at their training center. Everbridge is also sponsoring food and drink.

TOPIC:

NASA World Wind is an open source virtual globe that makes it easy to build 3D geospatial applications. World Wind provides APIs for Java, Android, and JavaScript, and includes a powerful set of capabilities for visualizing and interacting with spatial data and imagery. In the first part of this presentation I will discuss some the main features of World Wind, as well as the World Wind team's development philosophy. The second part of the evening will be an interactive workshop, in which we will build a simple geo application using the Web World Wind JavaScript API.

BIO:

Parker Abercrombie is a senior software engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and is the project lead for OnSight, a mixed reality tool that allows scientists and engineers to work virtually on Mars. Parker is also the lead developer of the science targeting software for the upcoming Mars 2020 rover mission. Prior to joining JPL, Parker worked on geovisualization software for NASA's Ames Research Center and the U.S. Department of Energy, including World Wind, winner of the NASA Software of the Year Award in 2009. Parker holds an M.A. in Geography from Boston University, and a B.S. in Creative Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara (which he swears is more technical than it sounds).

DIRECTIONS:

The building is on Hudson Ave, between Colorado and Green St. The meeting room is off Hudson, next to the first floor gym with the classic glass walls and gym equipment. You are responsible for your own parking. The onsite parking is very expensive. Please check the Parkopedia link for your options or take public transit.

https://en.parkopedia.com/parking/locations/790_east_colorado_boulevard_pasadena_ca_united_states_9q5fpzcrguw/?country=us&arriving=201706081830&leaving=201706092130

TIMETABLE:

7:00pm - People start to arrive and socialize

7:30pm - SGVLUG meeting begins with announcements, Linux in the News, and then the presentation

9:00pm - End meeting, clean up, and then head over to Du-Par's (214 S Lake Ave, Pasadena) to socialize further.

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Lawyers vs Developers, The Fight Over FOSS in Enterprise

Topic

Enterprises have learned that Open Source is the way to develop great and mature software. Leveraging open source tools and packages allows the enterprise to go to market faster and have stronger applications. Therefore, using Open Source tools is a no brainer for developers. The lawyers on the other hand don’t see it the same way.

The speaker had the privilege of working with the Open Source approval and review process in a large security firm. In this talk, he will share lessons learned from this process and some best practices that developers should do to make the Enterprise Lawyers happy as much as the developers are.

Each organization that uses Open Source software – even in an unedited form – has a list of FOSS licenses that are acceptable and some that are not. Also, has strict requirements on how to handle the software and how to incorporate it in the distribution of the company’s products. In this talk, we go through some of the lessons learned and pitfalls that some Open Source packages have, such as:

  • Not inserting a copyright clause in project code or homepage

  • Asking the user to alter the code in order to change the license from GPL to MIT, for example

  • Using dependencies that could be outdated or have CVE’s against it

  • Not providing enough information to build the code from scratch

Bio

Rami Al-Ghanmi is a Principal Software Engineer at Symantec Corporation. He is the DevOps technical lead for Endpoint Protection Cloud products at Symantec Corporation where he works on building, deploying and managing security infrastructure and services on OpenStack and AWS-based platforms. Also, he is an outspoken advocate of Open Source Software, tools and practices within Symantec. The technology stack that Rami works with every day includes: Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift and automation tools on AWS.

DIRECTIONS

OpenX is located in the One West Bank building @ 888 E Walnut St. Pasadena CA, 91101. Entrances to the building are eastbound on Walnut, right hand side before the Lake St. intersection or southbound on Lake St. right hand side after the Walnut St. intersection. Once through the driveway, please park in the 888 Lot that has the OpenX logo displayed out front. Pull a ticket and bring it with you to the Meetup, we will validate your parking.

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