26. Folklore

Whenever I made a roast, I always started off by cutting off the ends, just like I'd seen my grandmother do. Someone once asked me why I did it, and I realized I had no idea. It had never occurred to me to wonder. It was just the way it was done. Eventually I remembered to ask my grandmother. "Why do you always cut off the ends of a roast?" She answered "Because my pan is small, and otherwise the roasts would not fit."

—anonymous

Many things have become accepted security practice. Most of these are to avoid problems that could be avoided other ways if you really knew what you were doing. It's fine to get in the habit of doing these things, but it would be nice to know at least why you're doing them. A lot of these issues have been ...

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