Tom Van Vleck

02/01/23

I have had the privilege of working with some of the finest people in the world on some of the most interesting projects in computing.

What I always say is, "You learn something every day, unless you're careful."

Professional

Computer security, software engineering, and web applications.

Consulting 2007-present (12/02/22)
Résumé (08/30/22)
Web Portfolio (01/17/23).

Software Engineering Stories

Essays on software quality and engineering. (07/28/20, 25 files)

Computer Security

How the Air Force broke Multics security in the early 70s. (10/14/02)
Timing Channels. Covert channels are a concern in the design of secure operating systems; they allow information to leak between security domains. In 1990, I wrote a short paper about a 1976 exploitation of a timing channel, and some thoughts on the star property. (05/90)
Project names and Borges numbers. Since we're talking about security, you may enjoy this anecdote from Project MAC. (02/05/95)
Home Computer Security Advice The bare minimum that everybody should do. Version 21. (01/26/23) updated
How I Filter Spam It takes some work, but it's worth it. And a lot of spam is security attacks. Version 11. (02/01/23) updated

Tools (Open Source)

Expandfile A command line program that expands text templates. Useful for many purposes, including enhancing HTML. Version 6. (12/15/22)
Password Generator in JavaScript: Generate random pronounceable passwords locally in your browser. Includes some history and general advice. (11/01/20)
iPhone Password Generator Web App: Generate pronounceable passwords locally on your iPhone using JavaScript. (09/04/19)
JavaScript Pie Chart: Useful data display in JavaScript. (01/14/21)
Diskpie: Display a directory's disk usage using the pie chart. (02/10/17)
Globe in JavaScript: JavaScript program to display the globe from any viewpoint. Port of a 58-year-old 7094 program. (05/14/20)
Customizable HTML calendar in JavaScript. Port of a 43-year-old Multics program. (05/14/20)
Super Webtrax Prepares a daily usage report from web server logs. Version 17. (08/30/22) New: log4j attacks report
Timeline Chart in JavaScript JavaScript program to generate a graphic timeline chart. (05/10/22)

Shared Experience

How I Prepare Pictures for the Web With Affinity Photo What I've learned so far. Version 3. (08/14/21)
High DPI Pictures Making pictures look sharp on smartphones and Retina screens. (09/02/22)
Using CSS Sprites Speeding up web page display using a packed sprite graphic. (01/14/23)
Creating Computer History Websites Information for computer history website creators. (12/27/22)

Multics

I worked on the Multics operating system for almost 16 years in the 60s and 70s, and edit a web site describing the system, its history, and its builders.

"The Multics System Programming Process"
Charlie Clingen and I wrote an invited paper (06/78) for COMPCON 78 about our team's development process. It was reprinted in the IEEE Tutorial on Software Maintenance.

History, Stories, & Humor

How I got started in computers .. in a suburban basement in the 1950s (1995)
1401s I have known. Includes HELLO WORLD (2002)
The IBM 7070. An interesting and little-known machine (1996)
The IBM 7094 and CTSS. MIT's two 7094s. (12/08/22)
The IBM 360/67 and CP/CMS. My experiences with the ancestor of VM/370. (12/15/10)
The History of Electronic Mail. Early electronic mail and instant messaging. (01/17/23)
"Ojos Numerosos (for George Oppen)," a poem by Mark Mendel, painted on walls in Cambridge MA in 1975. (1997)
Real Programmers Don't Write Specs. I wrote this in 1982, based on people I knew. (10/25/82)
Software Engineering Comix. Seven b&w comic strips for programmers. (07/24/95)
Mulvaney on Bomb Disposal. World War II humor (04/24/21)
Home Terminals. Fifty years of logging in from home. (12/14/98)
Borges and I. How I learned to appreciate the master. (2012)
The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Tuesday, October 17, 1989, at 5:04 PM. (07/04/97)

Reference

You never know when you might need to know some of this stuff.

The Figures of the Syllogism .. as described by Petrus Hispanius. (2010)
Borges' Animals .. a classification as good as any. (2006)

Personal

Index Gallery (09/14/18)
Famous Van Vlecks (01/17/23)
Favorite Places on the Web (05/11/22)
Feijoada (1980)
Venice (2012)
Mushroom Hunting (1997)
The Funnies (05/25/02)
I was interviewed by Jeffrey Yost of the Charles Babbage Institute for the NSF History of Computer Security project. (10/24/12, 175K PDF)