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With recent NSA/Snowden leaks about the NSA potentially compromising Internet encryption standards, is SSL/TLS still considered to be safe/not backdoored? If there are backdoors, how likely would it be that they would be in the implementing application vs in the SSL/TLS standard itself?

Basically, is SSL still theoretically secure against an organization like the NSA?

Yes.*

The NSA had to work very hard to get data that was protected by SSL/TLS. They siphoned a ton of user contacts information from Yahoo! by tapping cables. They got much, much less of that same type of data from GMail, because GMail has users use SSL by default. They actually man in the middled a Google datacenter to bypass their SSL.

You might have seen this slide:


It was easier for them to sabotage the servers that Google was using to encrypt things than it was to break the encryption.

The weak point in a communication secured with SSL/TLS is everything except the SSL/TLS part. Malware on your computer**, malware on the server, stolen SSL certificates.

*SSL/TLS is a protocol for for two computers to agree on an encryption scheme, not encryption itself. Some of the older encryption algorithms are starting to show weaknesses, so those specific algorithms should be deprecated, but that doesn't affect TLS as a whole.

**Encryption makes it impossible to cache things, which makes thing slow. If you're an IT guy at a company and you have 1000 people hitting the same encrypted external website 100 times a day, you have to make 100,000 requests. If you cache it, you only have to make 1. But if you let the browser and the external server encrypt things, you can't tell when someone is making a duplicate request. So a lot of networks will actually man in the middle themselves to improve performance, by doing all encryption stuff at the point where the internal network connects to the internet. This includes some smartphone networks / browsers, where bandwidth is at a premium. You need less infrastructure, and it only comes at the expense of your user's security!

Very thorough, thanks for the reply!

Those of the forum not part of Glorious Canuckistan have probably been missing out on the Grade A scandal surrounding Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. As of the moment, Mr. Ford has admitted to or is suspected of:

-Alcoholism
-Crack cocaine addiction
-Drinking and driving
-Sexual harassment
-Spousal abuse

He is STILL MAYOR. He is GETTING HIS OWN TV SHOW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtAosEp5R04&t=2m51s
http://www.straight.com/blogra/530916/doug-and-rob-ford-launch-tv-show-sun-news-network
http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/14/rob_ford_admits_drinking_and_driving_says_hell_sue_former_staffers.html
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11/11/rob-ford-bobbleheads-set-to-go-on-sale-to-support-united-way/

FOUND SOME!

http://retelly.com/lol/abercrombie--fitch-prank

Very nice! I'd heard about the clothes-burning but not about the no-fat clothes policy.

I heard about this on the radio! It's amazing when you think of all the volunteers and the co-operation from the city (probably) that lined up to make this happen.

Makes me smile 

With recent NSA/Snowden leaks about the NSA potentially compromising Internet encryption standards, is SSL/TLS still considered to be safe/not backdoored? If there are backdoors, how likely would it be that they would be in the implementing application vs in the SSL/TLS standard itself?

Basically, is SSL still theoretically secure against an organization like the NSA?

[Ingredients]

On today's episode of Cooking with Remington, I continue the proud North American tradition of stealing other cultures' food and making it unnecessarily delicious unhealthy. Our next victim is Chinese/Japanese dumplings (gyoza), which are usually filled with cabbage or egg and steamed or boiled lightly. Our modifications turn it into a easily freezable, ultimate snack food that goes REALLY well with beer or most other kinds of alcohol.

Recipe is based on this article, albeit modified slightly. It's recommended to make these in large batches (x2 the recipe or more) as they're inefficient to make in small batches (you'll see).





Ingredients

Filling
1 - 2 Tbsp Sesame oil
2 Cups Green Cabbage
1/4 Cup Yellow Onion
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic
1/4 Cup Carrot
1/2 Pound Ground Pork

Dipping Sauce
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp White Vinegar
1/4 tsp Sesame oil

1 Package Wonton wrappers (30 or so should do it)

A spouse/sibling/friend/underling to help wrap the dumplings (goes faster with 2 people)



Preparation

From start to finish preparation takes 2-3 hours, so make sure you have enough time to see it through. Making more gyoza doesn't increase the preparation time by too much, so it's advisable to double or triple the recipe if you can (especially considering the end products are frozen before final cooking).




Making the Filling

1. Begin by cooking the ground pork in a LARGE/deep frying pan or pot (like this) with sesame oil on medium heat. It's advisable to keep an overhead/microwave fan on throughout making the filling, as doing this with sesame oil creates a very strong (but good!) smell.




2. While the pork is cooking, mince up the cabbage, onion, garlic, and carrot. Try for relatively small pieces, as large chunks will make filling individual dumplings awkward.




3. Once pork is cooked sufficiently, break it up into small pieces with a spatula and add in the other minced ingredients as well as the remainder of the sesame oil. Mix everything up and cook for the mixture on medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, allowing the carrots, onion, and cabbage to soften.

4. Add water to the pan (exact amount depends on your size of pan) enough to almost submerge the mixture. Increase heat to medium/high and start boiling the mixture slowly. This will soften/tenderize the carrot and cabbage mixture completely and let the garlic and sesame oil permeate everything. It will also noticeably decrease the volume of the mixture as the cabbage shrinks.




During this process you may want to add more sesame oil to increase the strength of the mixture's flavour. I'd recommend going with only the stated 1 - 2 Tbsp first off, but on later run-throughs you can add more if desired.

5. After the water has all boiled off, taste-test the filling with a small spoon. If there is anything still crunchy/firm in the mixture (carrot or cabbage) add more water and boil it off again. If not, empty the filling into a large boil and prepare for the next step.











Wrapping the Dumplings

For this you will need a friend, wonton wrappers, baking trays, and some time.








The idea is to pile small amounts of filling on top of each wrapper, then fold the opposite sides of the dumpling up and crimp them closed at the top. It helps if your fingers are wet while doing this (wet wonton wrappers stick together much easier), so having a small bowl of water nearby is useful.









Once each dumpling is done, line them up on the sheet with about 1/2 an inch between each one.








Once a sheet is full, place them in the freezer for 2-3 hours until they are all frozen solid. Remove each dumpling from the sheet with a small twisting motion (they are usually frozen onto the sheet due to residual water, so don't try to pull them directly off!). Bag them in freezer bags with 30-40 per bag for later use.







Actually Cooking Them (Finally!)

Now comes the easy part. Whenever you feel like a delicious snack, grab 8-10 of the dumplings and fry them in a small amount of olive oil on low/medium heat until they are golden brown on each side. Don't thaw them first: going from the freezer directly to the pan helps prevent them from falling apart.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the finished product, but they should look like this:




The dipping sauce is really easy to make and adds a lot to the flavour. Simply combine 3 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp white vinegar, and a very small amount of sesame oil (1/4 tsp) in a bowl and you're done.

[Ingredients]

Full disclosure: this is NOT my own recipe. Credit goes to Janet and Greta Podleski and their cookbook "Looneyspoons".

This recipe needs to be prepared 1 day in advance.

Ingredients

1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp fresh dill
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt and ground pepper

4 chicken breasts


Preparation

1. Combine all non-chicken ingredients in a bowl.




2. Cut chicken into strips or chunks and arrange into single layer (if possible) in casserole dish. The smaller you cut the chicken the stronger the dill flavour will be in the end so your mileage may vary.







3. Pour marinade over chicken and mix gently to spread marinade between and under the chicken.





4. Allow chicken to marinate in fridge for 1 day.





5. Bake chicken at 350F for 35 minutes. If you prefer, after this you can transfer the excess marinade to a saucepan and boil/thicken it a bit to make it into a sauce.

6. Eat it. Like Nuclear Chicken it goes well with rice and baked potatoes, but not so much with salad (the dill tends to overpower everything else).

Oddly enough, that's actually very close to my go-to spice rub that works on just about any piece of protein. In fact, the only differences are that I use kosher salt instead of seasoned salt and I omit the onion powder and add a little brown sugar. Remy, you don't happen to work in a kitchen in Washington state for a company that's retardedly successful in spite of their complete cluelessness, do you?

Nope! Found it here and modified it slightly (less salt, substitue chili powder for most of the cayenne).

It does look pretty damn tasty though. Ok, I take it back. I'll cook this shit.

Let me know how it goes! I'll post a few more recipes that we do often.


Question for ECH: is posting recipes from a commercially sold cookbook allowed, if proper citation is given?

It shall be done! I'll start putting together another update.

Like all Canadians, I've been in hibernation throughout the Summer. Our species survives on a diet of snow and ice, so I've spent the summer in a coma in the frozen goods section of a Walmart in Montana. Now that the snows have returned to Canuckistan, I have awakened.

Are people interested in me continuing this?

[Ingredients]

This is a really simple dry-rub spice mixture for chicken. The spiciness can be easily adjusted without changing the flavour too much, so it's good if you have some people in your family that don't like spicy food and others that do. Goes well with rice or baked potato.



Ingredients
3 or 4 chicken breasts (1 chicken breast = 1 person, more or less)
2 1/2 TBSP Paprika
2 TBSP Garlic Powder
1/2 TBSP Seasoning Salt
1 TBSP Onion Powder
1 TBSP Dried Thyme (Powdered > Whole for me but your tastes may differ)
1 TBSP Ground Black Pepper
2 TBSP Chili Powder
1/2 TSP Cayenne Powder*

*Cayenne can be eliminated to produce low-spicy version without affecting taste too much. Can also be increased for MOAR FUN IN YOUR MOUTH



Preparation

1. Prepare spice mixture by mixing together all non-chicken ingredients.





2. Add as much Cayenne pepper as you dare.





3. Cut up chicken breasts into strips or chunks. If you prefer, you can also keep them whole although you will get less spice on the breasts that way.






4. Cover the chicken breasts in delicious spices.





5. Add a slight amount of olive oil to a pan. Cook chicken on low-to-medium heat, flipping once. You should be aiming for when the spice mixture starts to darken, just before it burns.






6. Serve with rice/whatever side you want. Tends to go really well with/on top of Jasmine rice.

Do the Pakistanis have a price sheet made up, or is this a made-to-order type deal?