Tom Van Vleck

01/16/19

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."

Software Engineering Stories

Essays on software quality and engineering. (12/24/18, 25 files)

Three Questions About Each Bug You Find (04/12/11)
Cleaning up the Basement in the Dark (06/04/10)
It Can Be Done (06/10/17)
The Evolution of My Thinking (03/01/06)
Nasty Question (02/01/05)
A Few Minutes' Discussion (03/01/06)
Notebooks (12/13/10)
NASA's $30,000 drops of Epoxy (06/04/10)
The Risks of Electronic Communication (02/01/05)
Painting the Wall (02/01/05)
When the River Is Polluted (02/01/05)
Structure Marking (04/14/09)
Perfection Pills (06/04/10)
Counterpoint (11/11/15)
Check Marks (12/15/12)
Software Engineering Proverbs (01/16/19) updated
Software Engineering Reading list (11/23/18)
Hellandizing (04/07/17)
Gauss's Algorithm (12/06/16)
Management Tactics (07/07/05)
The Bulgarian Lesson (01/16/07)
Van Vleck's Comb (09/14/18)
Interviewing and Hiring (08/07/18)
Darwin (04/23/17)
Dumbo Management, Blender Management, Cargo Cults, and the Flying Trapeze (05/13/18)
Slide One (09/07/18)
Disasters (12/24/18)

Computer Security

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. (07/04/17)
How the Air Force broke Multics security in the early 70s. (12/02/17)
Project names and Borges numbers. Since we're talking about security, you may enjoy this story. (04/01/15)
Home Computer Security Advice The bare minimum that everybody should do. Version 16. (01/16/19) updated

Tools

Password Generator in JavaScript: Generate random pronounceable passwords locally in your browser. Includes some history and general advice. (12/02/17)
iPhone Password Generator Web App: Generate pronounceable passwords locally on your iPhone using JavaScript. (02/10/17)
JavaScript Pie Chart: Useful data display in JavaScript. (09/14/18)
Diskpie: Display a directory's disk usage. (02/10/17)
Globe in JavaScript: JavaScript program to display the globe from any viewpoint. Port of a 30-year-old 7094 program. (07/27/18)
Customizable HTML calendar. In JavaScript. (12/07/16)
Tools for web site management and security. Source programs in Perl and C. (12/02/17)
How I Prepare Pictures for the Web With Photoshop What I've learned so far. Version 15. (06/10/17)
How I Filter Spam It takes some work, but it's worth it. Version 10. (01/01/19)

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 (07/04/17) for COMPCON 78 about our team's development process. It was reprinted in the IEEE Tutorial on Software Maintenance.

Professional

I provide consulting on computer security, software engineering, and web applications. Here is my résumé. (08/14/18)

Stories & Humor

How I got started in computers .. in a suburban basement in the 1950s (11/06/18)
1401s I have known. Includes HELLO WORLD (07/06/18)
The IBM 7070. An interesting and little-known machine (07/18/11)
The IBM 7094 and CTSS. MIT's two 7094s. (07/06/18)
The IBM 360/67 and CP/CMS. My experiences with the ancestor of VM/370. (07/19/18)
The History of Electronic Mail. Early electronic mail and instant messaging. (10/24/18)
Real Programmers Don't Write Specs. I wrote this in 1982, based on people I knew. (07/02/17)
Software Engineering Comix. Seven b&w comic strips for programmers. (12/08/16)
Mulvaney on Bomb Disposal. World War II humor (12/08/13)
Home Terminals. Forty years of logging in from home. (07/06/17)
Borges and I. How I learned to appreciate the master. (12/08/13)
The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Tuesday, October 17, 1989, at 5:04 PM. (11/11/15)

Reference

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

The Figures of the Syllogism .. as described by Petrus Hispanius. (09/14/18)
Borges' Animals .. a classification as good as any. (03/01/06)

Personal

Index Gallery (09/14/18)
Famous Van Vlecks (12/01/17)
Favorite Places on the Web (08/14/18)
Feijoada (02/09/06)
Venice (01/07/15)
Mushroom Hunting (06/17/10)
The Funnies (07/04/18)
I was interviewed by Jeffrey Yost of the Charles Babbage Institute for the NSF History of Computer Security project. (10/24/12, 175K PDF)

Change log 01/16/19