Article Summaries

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Article Summaries

These are a collection of articles that I have read and summarized for future reference.

The Management Myth - Matthew Stewart
The idea of management philosophy derives from the scientific management theories of the early 20th century. There are certainly many useful aspects of a formal management degree, but most of the success in the field comes from experience. Management theory provides many useful heuristics, but they are no magic bullet for actual problem solving and communication. Stewart finishes off with some of his advice for managers looking for advice; expand your domain of analysis, hire from a diverse pool of experiences, and communicate.

Esh - Statistical Similarity of Binaries
Esh is a tool that takes advantage of procedural decomposition and statistical similarity to determine binary similarity. This is done by breaking down code in strands, smaller units that provide the same data path. Local evidence of similarity aids in determining overall similarity in binaries. Esh works well in determining the existence of heartbleed in a program.

Simple Contracts are Better
The distributed smart contract network DAO, a pool of money governed by code, was exploited to withdraw 50 million dollars. This is an inherent flaw of the system due to complexity. The author proposes that smart contracts execute code off of the blockchain in order to reduce future surface area for new attacks. These new contracts will need to be simple and upgradable.
Discussion

Overview for Bayesian Methods for Hackers
This is an open sourced book that is meant to bridge the gap between theory and practice, putting computational methods before the math. The book guides the reader through some interesting examples, such as A/B testing and detecting changes in behavior. The material is presented using Jupyter notebooks.