Twitter: @ewenmcneill -- July 2019

Mon Jul 01 06:10:35 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @minxdragon

Frustrated routines are tricky 💜

Sometimes I find the way out of that “I have to do something else” problem is to surrender to an external source, eg Google “toast topping -IngredientA” (maybe plus a rule about the winner). If nothing else it’s more options.

Mon Jul 01 23:03:49 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @kawaiiconNZ: (u ‿u ✿) (◕‿◕✿) http://kawaiicon.org is live! give that cursor a wiggle and let the stars bring you sparks of joy! http…

Wed Jul 03 01:13:14 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @PowerDNS_Bert: Cloudflare is currently down, including the Cloudflare DoH server that is the default DoH server for Firefox, if you ena…

Wed Jul 03 06:37:26 +0000 2019 (#)

Tabletop scenario: you’ve lost access to your central password manager. Make a list of all the accounts you have and how you recover access to the accounts.

Follow up scenarios: is the list complete? Does it concern you how easily you could recover access?

Wed Jul 03 07:35:47 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ijk64 and @isomer

For many people/situations I actually encourage “written down on paper” passwords, as “strong password” and “recovery by looking it up elsewhere” can be a good trade off.

It does help if they’re stored a wee bit more securely than “post it under the keyboard” though… 😃

Wed Jul 03 23:04:31 +0000 2019 (#)

Managed to buy all my #NZIFF Wellington tickets in just over an hour. Some timeouts early on, but system worked amazingly better than last few years (this time last year I still had no tickets). Thanks @nzff!

(Prediction: Amazing Grace at The Embassy will sell out. Buy today.)

Wed Jul 03 23:16:23 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @Tarryntino and @nzff

This year I found seat selection worked well if I bought one film at a time. And broke badly when I tried to buy two films at a time and choose good seats. (Auto chosen seats remain poor, I almost always found several better seats in seconds.)

Thu Jul 04 07:33:28 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @BR3NDA

I make my own hummus from canned pre-cooked chickpeas. Takes about 10-15 minutes to make, and turns out better than store bought hummus. (Took a dozen attempts to refine technique.)

Starting with unsoaked/uncooked/unsprouted chickpeas is very slow, so I usually don’t do that.

Fri Jul 05 08:08:55 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @pjf

Yes, brains are very good at “if only…” statements, especially in situations that are unchangable. I’ve had a bunch of those myself, in somewhat similar circumstances. I think it’s just part of the process ❤️💜

Fri Jul 05 08:16:08 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @pjf

I think it’s a very common pattern, buried deep in the way (most) boys are raised. Maybe some of us get a stronger dose of it than others. It’s good you’re able to recognise the pattern, and maybe make different choices. (I have thoughts on “why”, but this doesn’t seem the time.)

Mon Jul 08 01:19:02 +0000 2019 (#)

Thread about GPG performance on much signed keys (quoted tweet is the middle of the thread).

150k records is not that big a deal these days, unless you are Accidentally Quadratic. Sounds like GPG is at least quadratic, possibly worse, on number of signatures 🙁 (Fixed SW name) https://twitter.com/lambdafu/status/1147162589597720577

Mon Jul 08 01:20:24 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @matthew_d_green: I was wrong about GPG. It doesn’t validate all of its imported signatures in some weird O(N^2) way. It just has an O…

Fri Jul 12 00:41:03 +0000 2019 (#)

Another (slightly earlier) “remove Ethernet chip and use raw PCIe bus” modification. I’m in awe at the fine pitch soldering required for these modifications!

https://ripitapart.com/2019/06/25/atomic-pi-adventures-episode-1-adding-external-pci-express-expansion-by-removing-onboard-ethernet/

Fri Jul 12 08:39:58 +0000 2019 (#)

The keyboardio Kickstarter production updates are an adventure to read! Manufacturing is hard, custom manufacturing is harder. Murphy’s law is real. Serious kudos to keyboardio for being so open about issues. (Via The Amp Hour special from Teardown 2019)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keyboardio/the-model-01-an-heirloom-grade-keyboard-for-seriou/updates

Fri Jul 12 22:55:50 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ciphernyx

Yes, it’s a good explanation of two way phishing scams. And yet that’s barely an “oh, and this happened” afterthought to the whole story!

For those playing along at home, it’s “Another Failed Scam” near the end of the June 2019 update https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keyboardio/the-model-01-an-heirloom-grade-keyboard-for-seriou/posts/2540405

Sat Jul 13 03:55:56 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @minxdragon

“Unit under me less?”

Often one has to guess these things partly from context, and there’s not quite enough here.

(I’m currently scanning my grandfather’s 1960 diary, written with a medium tip fountain pen on thin paper in a tight hand. Every line is a guess from context…)

Sat Jul 13 20:41:32 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @Jkid4 and @webhat

I was able to download the MP4 version, but it is unplayable (unrecognized file format). There is an OGV derived version, which will play (eg, in Firefox) but it’s only 18 seconds long. That 18 seconds confirms “I’m out” and having to delete some Twitter posts, then just ends.

Sat Jul 13 23:15:07 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @SwiftOnSecurity: What an incredible post by the @Cloudflare team. I didn't see anyone seriously do it, but anyone who jumped to the con…

Sun Jul 14 04:43:40 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @pjf

Yes, it’s done pretty cool technology they have.

I’ve seen it at work at my place a few times, as an owner of an older house. Good that it exists. Unfortunate that it’s needed 😕

Sun Jul 14 10:26:30 +0000 2019 (#)

Apollo AGC restored to operation, including doing a core memory dump from its previous life as a test unit decades ago. (19th part in the restoration series; the whole restoration series is worth watching for obstacles found and fixes done.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AhVKYDVZxWQ

Sun Jul 14 21:57:01 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @kenshirriff: We're restoring an Apollo Guidance Computer for #apollo50. Instead of core ropes, our AGC has a core rope simulator. I rev…

Sun Jul 14 21:59:49 +0000 2019 (#)

“The Case of the Missing Hatch” asks the important Project Egress build question: did they lose the original?!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj6GUCMUheE

Mon Jul 15 23:19:02 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @tveastman

It’s definitely possible to have “too much of a good thing”, but IMHO sometimes the itertools helpers make for more readable “filter pipeline” code than spreading that logic over N lines of for/if.

(I do tend to think in set transformations though: Unix pipelines, SQL, etc.)

Mon Jul 15 23:46:46 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @tveastman

Python definitely makes filtering pipelines harder.

The cleanest solution I’ve found (in Python) for larger pipelines is functions that consume an iterative and “yield” relevant values, which you can arrange to consume each other’s output.

Mon Jul 15 23:51:42 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @tveastman

• “consume an iterator”

For short filter pipelines list/dict comprehensions with one or maybe two levels of filtering / transformation can work. But two levels of filtering inline in one comprehension is definitely a bit of a code smell.

Tue Jul 16 07:47:09 +0000 2019 (#)

“Moon Lander” with infinite fuel is easy mode 😃

But many bonus points for doing it on real AGC hardware! (Also featuring an el wire DSKY display for extra authenticity.)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2zXfO571Tio

Tue Jul 16 07:50:08 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @minxdragon

That’s quite the opening hook sentence you’ve got there 😃

I’d want to find out more about the talk. Just saying.

Wed Jul 17 21:21:20 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @tomk_

You’ll want the slides too, as the InfoQ / QConNYC video recording only shows the lower left corner of them :-(

But yes, another interesting Bryan Cantrill “historical context” talk.

https://mobile.twitter.com/bcantrill/status/1143532677171167234

Thu Jul 18 05:27:26 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @tveastman

Maybe someone has fired up an Infinite Improbability Drive in our vicinity? 😃

Thu Jul 18 20:33:02 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @daveaitel: If you grew up, as I did, going to Hebrew school, half of which was about the Holocaust, then images like this are PTSD-leve…

Thu Jul 18 20:33:39 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @the_sailor_dog: Container ship art

Fri Jul 19 07:47:58 +0000 2019 (#)

Turns out if you started early enough, and were recognized by The Church, you could end up independently sovereign, to this day. The whole story is pretty wild, but the post WW2 Air Force special case in this thread is extra wild.

https://www.orderofmalta.int/sovereign-order-of-malta/knights-of-malta/ https://www.orderofmalta.int/sovereign-order-of-malta/faq/ https://twitter.com/garius/status/1151832864494903296

Fri Jul 19 10:36:57 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @1johnwatson and @KevinSavetz

I loved this series too, and would happily pay money for a good DVD or BluRay copy. All I can find now seem to be low quality VHS versions (including sold on DVD-Rs 😃). Which ironically are worse quality than the ones I recorded off TV to VHS to watch then didn’t keep 🤦🏻‍♂️

Sat Jul 20 03:02:55 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @hroethgar

Ouch. That seems like something that should just have been auto added by the lvm package post install if it detected a package upgrade and lvm root, for the duration of the Debian 10 release. But I’m not even seeing it in the release notes 🙁

Sat Jul 20 03:55:28 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @hroethgar

Yeah, I’ve also got a much upgraded Debian system that keeps hitting those upgrade edge cases. Most of them are in the release notes though….

Sat Jul 20 03:59:05 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @ticky: this “z-axis conductive tape” is absolute witchcraft and I want a roll of the stuff https://www.adafruit.com/product/1656

it’s double-sided t…

Sat Jul 20 04:08:51 +0000 2019 (#)

Verilog to 74-series logic PCB layout, with open source tools. Application Specific Integrated Circuit Board generation 😃

Amazing what can be done with tools that can be chained together!

http://pepijndevos.nl/2019/07/18/vhdl-to-pcb.html https://youtu.be/-1G_gXUzLPg https://github.com/ZirconiumX/74xx-liberty https://twitter.com/pepijndevos/status/1152315173685923840

Sat Jul 20 23:02:27 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @pjf

I’m really pleased to see you’ve got a “project plan” with separate deliverables. I was getting concerned you were trying to do it all in one big sprint. Having watched others try to do that, it’s exhausting (and months of effort).

I hope deliverable 1 comes together easily💜

Sun Jul 21 00:12:26 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @pjf

👍 I highly encourage outsourcing! 💜❤️

Sun Jul 21 21:29:33 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @theartsyreader1: I have come to the conclusion that buying books and reading them are actually two entirely different hobbies.

Wed Jul 24 03:56:50 +0000 2019 (#)

My “earlybird” iCEBreaker FPGA dev board arrived today (with friends). A bit later than I’d expected from the “all sent” posting at the start of June (mine was sent mid July, apparently Because Reasons). I’m glad it’s made it!

Wed Jul 24 04:59:44 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @aenertia

If you want a small intro FPGA dev board that can be used with open source tools, it’s a pretty good choice. Manufacturing is… artisan, so I believe new orders are saying October at least for delivery.

For the LED panels, ones from AliExpress and any FPGA should be useable.

Wed Jul 24 05:03:39 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @aenertia

Beware if you buy LED panels from AliExpress that there are at least two different driver chipsets on them. I believe some of the delay in iCEBreaker delivery was trying to track down panels with easiest to use chipset.

Wed Jul 24 08:03:43 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @aenertia

From what I’ve seen online a FPGA can do more cycle accurate/faster cycle clocking out to LED panel than any CPU. Including, eg, full motion video. But esp32 should come fairly close in performance, with good code, for anything less demanding than video/high colour depth 😃

Thu Jul 25 04:39:21 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ewenmcneill

The iCEBreaker board turns out to be smaller than I’d imagined from pictures online. (It’s about 4 times the area of the TinyFPGA BX, but… the TinyFPGA is tiny!)

Banana for scale 😃

Thu Jul 25 08:36:54 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @__nolang: It's time to get your talk proposals ready! CFP closes August 25th

If you have an idea but aren't sure how it would fit in a…

Thu Jul 25 22:31:57 +0000 2019 (#)

Seems like IPv6 transit for Vodafone Fibrex (HFC) is broken: DHCPv6 happily hands out IPs, but traffic stops between 2401:7000:f501::1 and eg 2407:7000:8000:1::1 (both Vodafone IPs) 🙁

IPv4 works fine, but software tries IPv6 first. (Restarting CPE devices makes no difference.)

Thu Jul 25 22:48:05 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ewenmcneill

And now it’s working again, after an hour (or more?) of being broken. \o/

I wasn’t looking forward to trying to explain IPv6 to level 1 Helpdesk anyway 😃 (But I had got as far as waiting in a phone queue…)

Fri Jul 26 23:58:42 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @__fincham

“Apollo 11” is my second film today too!

I’m seeing “Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound” first, which I backed on Kickstarter. (Hope it’s good — they’re not saying when backers will actually get to see it; was originally Aug 2018… 😢 )

Sat Jul 27 01:50:49 +0000 2019 (#)

“Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound” is a great documentary. I’m glad my backing it on Kickstarter helped it get made. I’m pleased I got to see it (at the NZIFF Wellington Film Festival).

Sat Jul 27 01:54:15 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ewenmcneill

But I’m still frustrated with how poorly the producers/directors have treated their KickStarter backers, most of whom haven’t seen the film 7+ months after it was finished, and still don’t know when they’ll get to see it.

Hopefully they’ll eventually deliver what was promised 😕

Sat Jul 27 09:19:48 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @minxdragon

I think there’s a talk in “the obsessions of machine learning algorithms”, of which cats are one example (many humans are obsessed with cats too, a fact which might be related).

Another example: the stickers one can use to trick ML into recognising something else in image.

Sun Jul 28 20:16:37 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ExplodingLemur, @mgd81 and @digikey

Same. DigiKey specific email address, never used elsewhere, and unique long password. Very suspicious, but seems to be actually from DigiKey. Seems like there’s more to this story to come out yet.

Sun Jul 28 23:56:38 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @hroethgar

That’s really unfortunate.

Most of the theatres seem to have turned their centre speaker up to 10 and left it there (so are unnaturally loud). Seems like Lighthouse turned theirs up to 11 🙁

Mon Jul 29 09:18:34 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ss2342 and @__fincham

Of course they can change the bus contracts before the term is up. It might just be very expensive. Eg, “golden carrot” (we’ll pay double if you agree to new terms), or “golden parachute” (bye, here’s something to forget about us). 1/2

Mon Jul 29 09:24:17 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @ss2342 and @__fincham

The important thing is deciding that good public transport is something worth spending substantial public money on.

Rather than trying to provide the bare minimum via the cheapest bidder.

I think good public transport is worth funding well, to make a great city. 2/2

Tue Jul 30 05:23:00 +0000 2019 (#)

Replying to @digikey and @ExplodingLemur

Thanks for the explanation of the background, ie the implementation of a single sigon system.

Please pass back to whoever wrote the customer email that sending a “please secure your account” message gives the wrong impression (ie security vulnerability, not planned upgrade).

Tue Jul 30 05:23:11 +0000 2019 (#)

RT @digikey: @ewenmcneill @ExplodingLemur @mgd81 We recently underwent a planned system modification tied to our backend systems that requi…