Why, hello there!

I’m Ben and this is my little corner of the web. I’m spending three years of my life being a bit of a geek at university, studying for a degree in Computer Science. I’ve a keen interest in Linux & free / open-source software, web technologies & design, security & forensics.

Amongst some of the great people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in these great places I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, I’ve started working with a small computer forensics and security company a few miles away. Rather wonderfully, they’re supporting me in both my work placement and my dissertation. For both we’re investigating open-source forensics and, in turn, developing an open-source software platform from which we can safely collect data from a computer. It’s a fairly simple premise, but one with good scope.. and a big learning curve!

Hopefully, I can publish my dissertation project after I’ve finished it to explain the basis of what we are doing.  It’s the kind of project that you can’t really judge until you’re half-way there (or when you think you’re half-way there!) because it’s kind of a ‘piece of string’ deal. Thankfully, it’s coming along well!

Until then, I’m scribbling down thoughts, tips, tricks, links & articles that may be useful for those in a similar route, whether it be open-source software development or digital forensics. Web wizardry come with the coding territory somewhat, so there will also be a bit of that magic dust sprinkled around too.

Please have a browse through my posts, drop me some comments (or an e-mail if you’re the talking type) or even hop over to my del.icio.us bookmarks and contribute to the tags I’ve started there. I can’t wait to say hello.