Fleex's Lab: Best of 2015

It's been 2016 for a while now. As we head into the new year, let's review what I believe to be the most interesting articles published on this blog in 2015:

• Please Don't Use Robots.txt (encouragement to webmasters to allow the Internet Archiver to index their pages)
• Robotics - Looking Back (recap of the 2014-15 FTC robotics season, and examination of the reasons my team failed)
• Port Scanning Isn't Like Trying Doorknobs (addressing a common, bizarre metaphor used in introductory IT security materials)
• Deploying a Custom Windows Image with WDS, Unattended (outline of a walkthrough of using WDS to do custom deployments)
• A Better Way of Adding Drivers to WDS Boot Images (demonstrating a better way to accomplish a task than the outdated documentation gives)
• Obscure WDS Bug with Joining Domains on UEFI-Based Systems (advisory about a surprising, obscure WDS bug)
• Fixing Driver Problems with Sysprep (sledgehammer for fixing driver problems, without any third-party software)
• WCF is Awesome (exuberant praise for the Windows Communication Foundation)
• SPNs: What they are and how to work them (explanation of Windows Service Principal Names for the semi-technical)
• Why a Remote sc.exe Invocation is Slow (solving a tricky remote management problem I had)
• VirtualBox Installation Breaks Physical Ethernet Adapters (again resolving an unusual question)
• Have Different Router Maintenance and Wi-Fi Passwords (warning of a surprinsingly dangerous security configuration)
• Fixing Unbootable 15-Series HP Notebooks with Caps Lock Steady Blink (a tricky, obscure hardware repair)
• Simple, Effective Copy Protection with Asymmetric-Key Cryptography (a relatively easy-to-implement licensing system that I have used with success)
• Registry Policy (.POL) Format (clarifying difficult MSDN documentation)
• Modifying Group Policy with .NET (quasi-walkthrough for the Group Policy Management classes)
• My favorite post of the year: My Linux Saga: A Drama in Four Acts
• How to Install ODBC Drivers Manually (minimal setup for database connections)
• Using Windows EFS with the SYSTEM Account (setting up a machine account to use EFS, with cipher.exe)
• Inspecting Windows Updates (looking inside MSU packages)