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IRONSIDES is an authoritative/recursive DNS server pair that is provably invulnerable to many of the problems that plague other servers. It achieves this property through the use of formal methods in its design, in particular the language Ada and the SPARK formal methods tool set. Code validated in this way is provably exception-free, contains no data flow errors, and terminates only in the ways that its programmers explicitly say that it can. These are very desirable properties from a computer security perspective. IRONSIDES is not a complete implementation of DNS. In particular, it does not support zone transfers or all...

Adding a new chapter to its storied history of vanquished British seamen and Barbary pirates, Old Ironsides has emerged victorious once again - this time vs. snooty neighbors seeking to silence the frigate’s cannons. The 204-foot USS Constitution will continue its twice-daily blasts along with playing the national anthem - although officials turned the ship around in Boston Harbor on Feb. 18 so the echoing booms are directed away from Charlestown residences. “We sent (the neighbors) a letter saying that after reviewing their request, we decided we’re not going to make any changes to the tradition,” said Timothy Cooper, the...

Old Ironsides’ upscale Charlestown neighbors are trying to pull off what British, French and Barbary pirate guns failed to accomplish in more than two centuries - silencing the cannons of the nation’s oldest commissioned naval vessel. Miffed residents of a posh condo complex have invited the commanding officer of the USS Constitution over for a glass of wine so he can hear for himself that the frigate’s twice-daily cannon blasts - a tradition dating to 1798 - are “more disruptive to the neighborhood than you might have imagined.” Commanding Officer Timothy Cooper received the most recent complaint two weeks ago...

The USS Constitution on Saturday July 14, 2007: See my video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uXO65k6dDk I love that ship!

The commander of the famed USS Constitution was fired from his post yesterday, two months before his two-year term expired, because the Navy lost confidence in his ability to command the 210-year-old ship, officials said.