Twitter: @ewenmcneill -- April 2020
Tue Mar 31 23:36:30 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ lockdown day 7: post box collection is “enter via the construction site”, “hope you didn’t have any parcels”.
But street parking is free “until further notice”. So there’s that.
(Similar queue and procedures at CommonSense; New World queue looks longer.)
Tue Mar 31 23:37:27 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @geerlingguy: I am SO grateful for @device42's kind action:
They have sponsored another month of giving away my Ansible for DevOps an…
Tue Mar 31 23:57:24 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Interestingly it looks like the distance to stand back from the counter at CommonSense has been increased since a week ago (level 3). Otherwise seems to be operating pretty similarly, just with not as much variety of fresh items. #Covid19
Tue Mar 31 23:57:42 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @pjf: @ExcitedLeigh As of a few minutes ago, Steam websites should now show your persona name, not your account name, on every screen.…
Wed Apr 01 00:07:17 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
Seems like you’ve got the opening paragraph of your NanoWriMo this year 😃
Wed Apr 01 00:08:32 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
Now (13:00) the sun is shining and there are about 30 people in the queue. But it’s moving fairly quickly.
Wed Apr 01 01:55:20 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 7: New World Chaffers St has a longer queue (at 13:00) and red lines to stand on instead of pretty chalk crosses. But queue of 30-40 only took about 10 minutes to get in.
Most things in reasonable stock, but some gaps, and a lot of restocking happening.
Wed Apr 01 03:27:36 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @Ronindrone and @__fincham
“Be Kind Rewind” 😂
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Kind_Rewind
Wed Apr 01 03:31:19 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
Apparently only if you have just one device. Since it only knows what’s happening on the device Zoom is running on.
(Seems like a poorly thought through ticklist feature to me!)
Wed Apr 01 03:34:27 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @Tim_McCready: A new website that shows availability for click & collect timeslots across the week for all supermarkets around NZ: https…
Wed Apr 01 03:41:29 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @slyall: Website that tracks availability of click and collect slots at NZ supermarkets:
https://clickandcollect.nz/
Very nice writeup by…
Wed Apr 01 03:45:08 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @dhh: No wonder Zoom bombing is happening. All you need to join a meeting is a URL made up of a single ten-digit number. It's like Zoom…
Wed Apr 01 03:50:59 +0000 2020 (#)
It’s definitely possible to set Zoom passwords, the Zoom session I attended last night had one.
But then it’s an extra thing to ensure every attendee gets... so I understand why users might overlook it.
Seems like Zoom meeting IDs don’t really have enough entropy 🤔 https://twitter.com/sjvn/status/1245100169697398785
Wed Apr 01 06:34:12 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @benadida: I continue to believe, given what I've seen of @zoom_us's response to security issues, that they mean well and are trying har…
Wed Apr 01 07:19:40 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 mask, from one Quilting Fat of fabric + 2 rubber bands, by .@YUA_nyan_22.
Fold 3 times along one direction, into thirds in other direction capturing rubber bands, tuck one end into other. Put on face and spread out.
Video within quoted tweet. https://twitter.com/daniel_bilar/status/1245095113682038785
Wed Apr 01 07:23:09 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Definitely relies on friction fit against your face to stay together. But you can remake it in a few seconds and refit it, so seems a great “no sewing” quick solution to cover up and avoid passing something on to others.
Wed Apr 01 07:49:11 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @TProphet: 1/ For #infosec teams to maintain credibility during a crisis, it's important to strike an appropriate balance between securi…
Wed Apr 01 18:48:51 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @bjornpilot: A350, guided tour below. Something you normally will never see.
https://youtu.be/LxS2RR-Vx_s
Thu Apr 02 01:20:04 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @sophywong: I've been asked by several people about how to sew DIY cloth face masks, so I wrote a quick article, including links to patt…
Thu Apr 02 01:22:20 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ExcitedLeigh
🦋
Thu Apr 02 01:32:32 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ExcitedLeigh
\o/
Hope your home audio situation is working better for you with the lav mic!
Today’s Wintergatan Wednesday video demonstrates how much even small self-made changes can help, with stuff found around the house.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MCPPOCrWpU0
Thu Apr 02 08:41:25 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @geonet: Our Auckland Volcano Seismic Network has detected the slowdown of Auckland city in response to the COVID-19 lock down - read mo…
Thu Apr 02 20:58:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Maybe I’m not WFH this morning after all :-)
(GitHub login timed out, “down for everyone, or just me” also sees it as down.) https://twitter.com/githubstatus/status/1245809882529497088
Thu Apr 02 21:10:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @isomer
Curiously I’m still getting email from GitHub issues even in the last few minutes. So it feels like some people’s sessions are working.
But clear lots of people’s aren’t.
#HugOps to the GitHub team
Thu Apr 02 21:18:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham and @isomer
I’ve just been able to log in to GitHub now.
Apparently they’ve rolled out a fix, a few minutes ago.
https://mobile.twitter.com/githubstatus/status/1245819894706339840
Thu Apr 02 22:18:11 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @KHayhoe: Over the last few years, I've been deliberately transitioning most of talks I give (and as many meetings as I can) to virtual,…
Fri Apr 03 00:29:49 +0000 2020 (#)
Bother. It seems like my (Late 2013) MacBook Pro really does have swollen batteries. First the touchpad buttons were hard to click (a couple of weeks ago), and now it’s definitely not sitting completely flat on the desk any more 😢
Currently hoping it can last a few more months!
Fri Apr 03 00:32:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
If Apple hadn’t ruined the keyboards on the MacBook/MacBook Pros a few years ago it would have been replaced already (due to disk space reason).
Now it’s not really obvious what the replacement is, let alone eh it might be possible to buy anything again 🙁
Fri Apr 03 00:36:10 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Plus of course any new Apple device comes with a mandatory upgrade to macOS 10.15 which doesn’t support a bunch of software. I’d hoped to put that pain off for another year or so 😢
Fri Apr 03 00:37:46 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
I do have (multiple) backups. And other computers (including other Apple laptops). But this is the best spec’s macOS machine I have, so replacing it will be non-trivial.
“Exciting Times” 😕
Fri Apr 03 00:40:57 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @nickzoic
Unfortunately MacBooks in the last 7+ years are all unibody, which means the battery removal is basically “complete tear down”, dissolve glue holding batteries in. Not really something I want to do at home in a pandemic 😃
But yes, I’m going to watch it extra closely now!
Fri Apr 03 00:44:41 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @thomasbeagle
The latest model (released in the last few months) is supposed to be much better than the previous several years.
I’ve not typed on one though, and it was a very high end model, so I didn’t just order it immediately.
And as a vi user I’m particularly fussy about the keyboard!
Fri Apr 03 00:46:31 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Where did you have your batteries replaced? Which model was it?
AFAIK the Late 2013 has RAM and SSD soldered to the board, so I’d assumed both were not replaceable.
Fri Apr 03 00:48:47 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew and @nickzoic
Interesting. The iFixIt guide definitely talks about dissolving adhesive for 15” late 2013 MBP.
Maybe yours was a slightly different model?
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Late+2013+Battery+Replacement/89280
Fri Apr 03 00:50:36 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @REasther
Yes I’ve had parts from Apple this week (cables/adapters).
The difficult part is that I’d like to try the keyboard before buying anything... which is a wee bit tricky right now!
Fri Apr 03 01:01:57 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @xurizaemon
I’d certainly prefer not to leave the batteries in now I’m sure they’re unhealthy (not as bad as I’ve seen online, so definitely caught it early).
But the amount of tear down required, tools, etc does put me off trying doing it at home at present 🤔
Fri Apr 03 01:04:38 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @xurizaemon
Definitely useful to know that it’ll run without a battery connected internally though. It’s mostly desk bound anyway so “mains only is workable at present”.
And yes I’m aware of li-ion battery swelling progression risks 🙁
Fri Apr 03 01:07:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Thanks that’s very useful to see. I think that’s the exact same model that I have.
Seems like the iFixIt replacement is reusing more parts (keyboard, etc) that Apple is replacing as a whole subassembly.
Fri Apr 03 01:16:51 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @REasther
Well it’d definitely be useful to hear whether the latest keyboard turns out as good as the 2013/2014 models were when y’all do inbox it 😃
I’m also particularly fussy about the ESC key (vi), but even that is at least returned on the latest keyboards.
Fri Apr 03 01:19:06 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
Thanks for the offer of tools. There’s a chance I might have the right bits in one of my sets.
But I don’t really want to get half way through and find I need “one more thing” right now! Hence reluctance to start pulling things apart.
Fri Apr 03 01:24:11 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Reading an Aura Pro X2 review makes it seem like the SSD is a pre-NVMe module in a non-M2 form factor.
If I’d realised it was replaceable I’d have done that much earlier.
Fri Apr 03 02:10:07 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Thanks that’s also useful to know. Reading some of the reviews of the X2 give me a better idea what they did. Looks like original Aura X Pro relied on being a SATA RAID device, and X2 relies on nVME support added to macOS a couple of years ago.
Fri Apr 03 02:38:17 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Thanks for the details. I’ve even found a NZ supplier of those drives with stock. NZ$764 for 1TB and NZ$1136 for 2TB (maybe + GST).
If I keep using this laptop it’d be an excellent upgrade. But it’s a substantial fraction of the cost of something new... and the battery thing!
Fri Apr 03 02:41:50 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @tveastman
Umm, Tom, what is the context of that picture? He asks concernedly.
(AFAICT my MacBook model isn’t one of the ones recalled for li-ion issues. But it seems I’m not the only one seeing... less dramatic issues after 6 years.)
Fri Apr 03 02:43:51 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @aenertia
Apparently yes, it will run off AC only with internal battery removed.
But as a Unibody MacBook “removing the battery” isn’t exactly “unclip it from outside the case”! (If it was I would have done that already.)
Fri Apr 03 02:48:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @aenertia
Steps: 55, Difficulty: Difficult :-(
(Apple’s solution seems to be to replace the whole top assembly, including keyboard, touchpad, and battery. Which I’m sure is faster, but not DIY.)
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Late+2013+Battery+Replacement/89280
Fri Apr 03 02:52:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @tveastman
Thank you for the details. Sorry for your family’s loss 😢
Yes, poorly made li-ion batteries, especially under poorly regulated charging is definitely a thermal runaway risk. As are cheap chargers for that matter.
Fri Apr 03 02:57:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @tveastman
So I’m concerned about my MacBook battery, and will watch it closely. But it seems only slightly affected so far and isn’t a “known bad chemistry” battery (I checked that a few weeks ago).
Fri Apr 03 03:00:37 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @tveastman
It’s not bulged in the way I’ve seen photos online, nor in a “going blow” kind of way.
But since I noticed the track pad buttons being harder to press a few weeks back I’ve been watching closely. And now I’ve seen this, will watch closer still.
Fri Apr 03 03:11:04 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @xurizaemon, @kiwibrew and @nickzoic
Having read through the iFixIt instructions again it looks like they’re using an acetone based adhesive remover to dissolve the glue holding the batteries to the underside of the keyboard assembly. I can see why Apple replace the whole subassembly!
Fri Apr 03 03:22:04 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @xurizaemon
Possibly, but I get the impression it’s the whole top assembly upper case they’re replacing. This seems to be the Apple part (from Jon’s Apple Servicing).
Not sure if it’d run without all of that, and screen attaches to that too I think. http://www.ifixmaccomputers.com/661-8311-top-case-assembly-macbook-pro-retina-15inch-a1398
Fri Apr 03 03:33:56 +0000 2020 (#)
In other news it seems like older FortiGate firmware (6.0.x) has an IP address leak in the VPN IP pool handling in some situations. Apparently fixed in 6.2.something, but 6.0 to 6.2 is a major upgrade.
So that’s the other fun discovery this week 🤦🏻♂️
Fri Apr 03 04:21:03 +0000 2020 (#)
Random #Covid19 amusement: internal batteries are apparently an essential item and can be sent during alert level 4, but the tool kits to open the devices are not an essential item and can’t be sent. Edge cases are hard 😂
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/TOLPSK0067/ProsKit-SD-9828-58-PCS-Screwdriver--Bit-Set-Suitab https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/TOLPSK0066/ProsKit-SD-9326M-Consumer-Electronic-Equipment-Rep
Fri Apr 03 04:39:18 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Out of curiosity what currency is that Apple part replacement in? 11,500 Philippine Pesos seems to be NZ$400ish, which seems low for official Apple top assembly. But in other currencies 11,500 seems very high.
Fri Apr 03 07:20:21 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @aenertia
😃
I think most of the smaller laptops have switched to a unibody design with internal non-user-removable batteries. My (2016) Dell XPS is like that too. No sure if Dell glue the batteries down though.
But yes, my “what next” considerations do include “maybe not a Mac”...
Fri Apr 03 07:22:24 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Thanks! That seems surprisingly reasonable for an official Apple repair, especially since it seems to be a larger subassembly.
Fri Apr 03 08:15:08 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
Off the top of my head “bearings” in a fridge ought to be a fan or maybe the compressor motor. Which might be serviceable.
FWIW, another friend managed to get a washing machine serviced on Monday (this week, in Wellington).
Fri Apr 03 08:29:13 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
FWIW the current theory is the sslvpnd process is restarting and forgetting currently used VPN IPs (ie leaking them) in some situations.
Planned work arounds are making the VPN IP pool bigger, and rebooting the VPN server periodically. Until a safer time for a major upgrade.
Fri Apr 03 08:31:23 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
I’d expect a fan to run at the same time as the compressor as part of the cooling cycle. Just saying.
Also from what I’m told 20ish year old appliances are way more serviceable than modern (under 5 years) appliances.
Fri Apr 03 09:20:47 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @normnz and @__fincham
It was probably true 2 years ago too.
Appliances in general seem to have been getting monotonically less serviceable for the last 40+ years!
As someone pointed out above, appliances used to have schematics pasted inside them, for servicing reference, as sold to the end user.
Sat Apr 04 00:32:10 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @drdeanknight: OMG. We now have “hard rules” — an isolation order under s 70(1)(f).
Sat Apr 04 00:51:59 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @jbhuang0604: I always feel frustrated at taking photos through fences or windows (e.g., when taking my kids to the zoo). Check out our…
Sat Apr 04 04:23:53 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ lockdown day 10: fewer people out walking this afternoon than last Sunday afternoon, but still busy for a weekend.
Window displays still seem to be a thing!
“Day 10: May your day be a perfect 10!!” 😃
Sat Apr 04 04:30:38 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ lockdown day 10:
Sat Apr 04 05:23:44 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @pjf: Excited to see wardialing making a comeback. https://twitter.com/briankrebs/status/1245742480462696448
Sat Apr 04 05:28:11 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @murpharoo: Also this bit of plain speaking from @DanielAndrewsMP This is a crisis without an obvious endpoint 👇
Sat Apr 04 08:39:36 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ExcitedLeigh
Nature is reclaiming the city! 😃
Sat Apr 04 22:07:35 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @scottywrotem: Stuck this to the window and now the world makes more sense.
Sat Apr 04 22:15:27 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @DrChristineMann: 3. Remember: the masks that you will be using let in (& out) 60-97% of viral particles, depending on the mask you use.…
Sat Apr 04 22:16:07 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @DrChristineMann: 8. Masks are meant to protect other people from you, not you from other people. Mask wearing works best if sick peop…
Sat Apr 04 23:38:26 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @cstross: Ah, Gates is going Manhattan Project management on the vaccine problem.
(During the Manhattan Project, every time they hit a…
Sun Apr 05 04:35:16 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 11: the return of NZST
Sun Apr 05 04:46:31 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ lockdown day 11: essential services
Sun Apr 05 05:03:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ lockdown day 11
Sun Apr 05 05:06:14 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ lockdown day 11
Sun Apr 05 05:55:04 +0000 2020 (#)
“A Guide To Designing Low-Cost Ventilators for COVID-19” by the Real Engineering channel, talking about the non-obvious design constraints for making a medically useful ventilator that doesn’t risk making the patient’s problems worse.
#Covid19 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7vLPefHYWpY
Sun Apr 05 06:03:45 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @m_b_j: I'm 10y remote now and 99% of all interactions with my heavy remote / async teams are NOT done with calls / video.
It almost…
Sun Apr 05 06:09:12 +0000 2020 (#)
This ⬇️. So much this. I’m also 10+ years remote/WFH.
Optimise for asynchronous communication, eg email. The few things requiring realtime communication are still easiest via text instant messaging (IRC, Slack, etc) and then you have a record.
Calls/video is time inefficient. https://twitter.com/m_b_j/status/1246469294550065154
Sun Apr 05 06:10:35 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @SarahLibrarina: Content creators and web admins, please consider archiving your links at @internetarchive and uploading images you are…
Sun Apr 05 06:20:59 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
Are you talking about CVE-2020-11501 as the GnuTLS DTLS flaw?
“The DTLS client always uses 32 '\0' bytes instead of a random value, and thus contributes no randomness to a DTLS negotiation” 😕
https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/-/issues/960 http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2020-11501
Sun Apr 05 07:28:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @BR3NDA
Yes, me too.
My guess is there’s a fairly “proportional to population” gender balance in “essential workers”, but that the pay of those essential workers is less balanced across genders than the pay balance in the overall working population.
Sun Apr 05 08:04:38 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @tammypointless
Happy Birthday!
My friend Polly Lind made this wall hanging, and I bought it right off her ironing board as it was sitting just finished :-)
I love the colours, and particularly the pattern of both the figure fabric and the edging. (The figure design is very Polly too!)
Sun Apr 05 08:04:44 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @tammypointless: Since it’s my Birthday and i’m locked in and can’t party with you all I ask that you brighten my day by posting me your…
Sun Apr 05 08:21:48 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RyanGamlin: As I drove home later that day, through the protective ring of equipment, I realized a fundamental difference between publi…
Sun Apr 05 20:13:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Most likely to open a MacBook Pro you need a P5 (Pentalobe) and a T5 (Torx). T5 is fairly common in sets, but P5 is fairly rare. (I have T5 but not P5; outer bolts are P5 on most MacBooks I think.)
Double check by searching iFixit guide for your model.
cc @secastro https://twitter.com/secastro/status/1246613714272268290
Sun Apr 05 20:15:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @secastro
In case it helps, several of the Apple repair places in Wellington are open (limited hours) an operating a courier repair service (they organize pick up/drop off). I checked this on Friday (ie 3 days ago), because reasons.
Sun Apr 05 20:26:06 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @secastro
Also in case it helps Upgradeable claim to be open for online orders and have a “2 Piece Toolkit Apple Compatible” with a P5 compatible tool in stock (which might ship).
PBtech claims tools are “not essential” and won’t sell them. https://www.upgradeable.co.nz/collections/apple/products/ua1296 https://twitter.com/ewenmcneill/status/1245929280439119876
Sun Apr 05 21:17:23 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @secastro
Yeah, PBTech has sets, in stock, with P5. But their website says you can’t buy those sets right now as they’re “not essential”. Which means they’re unobtanium. 🙁
See downthread for another possible source which might sell them.
(Also maybe JayCar, haven’t checked if open.)
Sun Apr 05 21:22:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham, @secastro and @secastro
Michael has P5 pars he can leave out; check your work email:
“Can someone let Sebastian know I've e-mailed his work e-mail? I don't think he can see my Twitter account :P Thanks.”
Sun Apr 05 21:23:35 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham and @secastro
- P5 tools (“parts”)
Sun Apr 05 21:32:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
Yes, one of the things on my post lockdown todo list is “own tools to be able to open All The Things” 😃
(I can open most things in the house, but clearly a few too many acquired on an “as needed” basis which doesn’t really work any more 😢)
Sun Apr 05 22:08:35 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
As a random datapoint, I spent much of the first two weeks if lockdown optimising database queries of an AWS RDS for a client, taking it from maxed out 14+ hours a day to never maxing out (and allowing a batch processing VM to shut down much earlier).
Bucking the trend 😃
Sun Apr 05 22:10:53 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
In random news, I have opinions about people who know enough SQL to add tables / views, but not enough to check how efficient querying them is (or how often they’re being queried). 5 seconds * thousands of query runs... adds up 🙁
Sun Apr 05 23:13:32 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @mattturck: Everyone in tech: A/B testing
Bill Gates: A/B/C/D/E/F/G testing
Mon Apr 06 00:26:23 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @williamcrawley: I don’t know who this is, but he’s made my day.
Mon Apr 06 02:49:52 +0000 2020 (#)
@secastro just wondering how you got on with your MacBook. I’ve heard you were maybe sending it somewhere for repair. Did you figure out where?
(Apple official repair places seem to be “essential services” repairs only at present.)
Mon Apr 06 02:54:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
FYI NZ top case replacement for our MacBook Pro seems to be NZ$600 including labour. So Manila seems a good choice for where to repair :-)
(It’s also only “essential services” devices in NZ at present AFAICT, so would have to wait for an Apple repair.)
Mon Apr 06 03:53:04 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @CSOrganics
For certainty, does this announce that the Wellington store is now closed all weekend (Saturday and Sunday) and just open weekdays 08:00-16:00?
Or just announce shorter hours Mon-Fri, “normal” hours Saturday? (Closed Sunday.)
Mon Apr 06 05:21:55 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @secastro
Great, thanks.
The Apple Guy seems to be the main Mac repair option actually open at present. I’ve been talking to them today too about my MacBook (for different reasons).
And yes, “2 Degrees of Separation” is at full strength these days :-)
Mon Apr 06 08:07:23 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @PeterKolchinsky: While not technically alive, there's an evil genius to viruses that never ceases to amaze me. It's one reason I became…
Mon Apr 06 23:02:47 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
It’s even making it into random leaflet drops in NZ. A useful term! (This was in my mailbox at home this morning.)
Mon Apr 06 23:05:09 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @pjf
Does TaskWarrior have a “Global Pandemic” mode with more relaxed deadlines?
It’s been... weeks since I’ve been near inbox zero, and usually I try to stay very close. Everything is being triaged at present 😃
Mon Apr 06 23:34:05 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ajn142 and @pjf
There’s always been a category of mail sent which is “FYI” but doesn’t need my action. I tend to read those (to mentally index them in case I need to refer to it later) and file them away immediately.
It’s the ones that need my action which are hard to keep up with at present!
Mon Apr 06 23:37:53 +0000 2020 (#)
“BINA-VIEW: The Rarest And Most Complicated Digital Display Of All Time!”
An electromechanical display, with solenoids and carefully cut plates, controlled by 6-bit binary code. Part 2 shows repair/working unit.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yFV4AOjrdO0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dBiayOg4Tto
Mon Apr 06 23:40:20 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
In case it helps, someone I know recently moved to https://mailinabox.email/ for their mailserver. Seems to be an Ubuntu respin with a bunch of similar things built in.
Tue Apr 07 00:05:18 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
I think I’ve been some sort of mail admin since at least the early 1990s. It was UUCP and bang paths, and FidoNet, at the beginning though...
I definitely understand you wanting to take a holiday from being a mail admin 😃
Tue Apr 07 08:12:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
For anyone following along at home it seems like something in the FortiGate web portal is triggering a bug in “the socket layer” which is triggering a sslvpnd crash (and thus leaking IPs). A fix release for that seems to be months away 🙁
So mitigations it is!
Tue Apr 07 08:41:14 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @textfiles: Did you know the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine now has a Wikipedia-like "Changes" mechanism where you can compare two d…
Tue Apr 07 19:51:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Not really enjoying this “only couriers can move goods between game tiles” / “there are a limited number of courier moves per round” / “if you choose to courier something you cannot do anything else that round” game mechanic 😕
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 14
Tue Apr 07 22:38:55 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
For anyone playing along at home, “difficulty: pandemic” rules specify it takes two rounds to collect goods, and one more round to deliver them.
(Called courier company, they are “very busy”, pickup late afternoon, of 2nd day.)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 14
Wed Apr 08 00:07:11 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 14: more NZ Post signs
(I wonder how long the payment by cash lasts :-) )
Wed Apr 08 00:08:37 +0000 2020 (#)
@CSOrganics in Wellington you might want to recommend people park on the street. Street parking is free at present and with the queue in the car park it’d be better to have fewer vehicle movements.
Wed Apr 08 00:11:31 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Progress update: be willing to use phones helps; the driver realised he was nearby and could pick it up on the way passed 💚 Freed from “wait for courier” jail 😃
Maybe couriers need to be taught about the Travelling Salesman Problem? :-)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelling_salesman_problem
Wed Apr 08 00:13:44 +0000 2020 (#)
CommonSense Wellington: queue moving fairly quickly.
Lots of delivery movement too!
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 14
Wed Apr 08 00:40:43 +0000 2020 (#)
New World Chaffers St (Wellington central) has figured out how to have a longer queue inside, by snaking the queue through the space that used to have the trolleys 👍
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 14
Wed Apr 08 01:03:52 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Random amusement: the self checkout machines at New World only take cards now (2+ weeks) but they still have the voice prompt to “insert cash”! Change is hard :-)
(Same machines, for years have voice promoted to put things on the scale while the screen says “bagging area” 🤔)
Wed Apr 08 01:31:37 +0000 2020 (#)
Random observation: even at 2 hours or so, door to door, to do grocery shopping/pickups, I think it’s only taking about twice as long per week for groceries as it was opportunistically buying things when passing in the Before Times.
It just dominates the day more. #Covid19 NZ 14
Wed Apr 08 02:17:32 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @gentle_tech and @__fincham
Or even 3G into a USB modem into a router (eg Mikrotik). At present there are definitely unlimited data mobile plans around (eg. Vodafone have been advertising them).
Same speed, but more convenient maybe?
Wed Apr 08 02:20:54 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @gentle_tech and @__fincham
Right now the problem with DSL install is it needs a jumper at the exchange which is probably hard to arrange for a while. Whereas 3G/4G is “just start”.
But yes, external antenna to 3G/4G on big plan has worked for a few people I know until they could get other options.
Wed Apr 08 02:23:13 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham and @gentle_tech
Yes adding an AP would name it more practical.
From memory Go WiFi we’re still shipping, although short in stock. And I’m guessing closer to destination. But you’d need to find a local to config if you did that....
Wed Apr 08 02:25:56 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham and @gentle_tech
Yes, but you probably can’t courier/post anything for 2 weeks, but Go Wifi as “essential services” supplier might be able to ship today.
Depends what you are optimizing for I guess :-)
Wed Apr 08 02:31:28 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
Yes I totally understand that it’s a pain, and your frustration. It’s a difficult problem at the best of times, and these aren’t that 😢
I suspect you need to triage this problem: fix now by any means possible, wait N weeks, give up. (Hate saying that, but here we are 😕)
Wed Apr 08 03:42:00 +0000 2020 (#)
Looks like IRD are keeping up their (now annual) practice of closing down all online filing services for a week right after the tax year ends (so there are extra returns to file)... 😕
Starting tomorrow (2020-04-09), 15:00.
https://www.classic.ird.govt.nz/campaigns/2020/service-changes-updates/
Wed Apr 08 04:11:01 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
So if you, eg, paid an end of tax year dividend last month, your DWT return (due 20th of the following month) needs to be filed on one of the about 4 working days left... and we’re barely a week into the new month, in a national lockdown.
(Just filed mine as I thought to check!)
Wed Apr 08 04:25:09 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
And for fun the IR284 guide to RWT on dividends is “being updated and will be available shortly”. Somehow I don’t expect that by the 20th 🤦🏻♂️
Apparently I’m guessing the tax type for the payment as “what I did last year” 🤷♂️
https://www.classic.ird.govt.nz/forms-guides/number/forms-200-299/ir284-guide-rwt-on-dividends.html
Wed Apr 08 04:57:07 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
I’m almost certain Apple will always allow you to download the last supported OS for your hardware, at least bought from Apple HW. There’s a way to download that and make an install USB/DVD.
(They do seem to still suggest try upgrading on hardware that won’t support it though!)
Wed Apr 08 04:59:50 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
FWIW my approach to such clutter is to move it to a folder (eg, old-YYYY-MM-DD), then reinstall the needed bits, and only once I’m happy it all works again, then delete that old folder.
Risk adverse? Once bitten, twice shy? You decide :-)
Wed Apr 08 06:53:05 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @filterfeeding and @__fincham
Kea are like that!😃
There were Tui singing in the tree outside my house this morning, but they maintained spatial distancing :-)
Lovely to see/hear Tui too; they don’t normally get this far from Zealandia and sound much more pleasant than the usual bird flock using that tree.
Wed Apr 08 06:56:02 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
!!
From memory there are command line tools to change plist files and/or convert to/from a text format. (Maybe those are only in the XCode bundle?)
Also you know there’s a smaller command line only install for XCode? See eg MacPorts howto.
Wed Apr 08 07:32:42 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @PyConAU: This year's PyCon AU will have really quite a lot more than two metres between each person, and we are also substantially incr…
Wed Apr 08 08:34:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
Depending on what your plist is for, the “defaults” command might solve your problem, and that’s on base macOS.
The “defaults” command is pretty flexible if you know how to drive a CLI :-)
https://support.apple.com/en-nz/guide/terminal/apda49a1bb2-577e-4721-8f25-ffc0836f6997/mac
Wed Apr 08 08:46:05 +0000 2020 (#)
“Half-Tone Letterpress Printing a Photograph in CMYK!”
Really detailed demonstration of colour (4 pass) letterpress printing a detailed image. (About 30 minutes.)
Hat tip to @esden for the pointer to the video 👍
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h1bt3pom_MQ
Wed Apr 08 09:12:22 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
From a glance a “defaults read PREFIX” to parse out things to copy and “defaults write PREFIX KEY ...” might do what you want. With a risk of partial set of things copied if interrupted (maybe make wrapper idempotent).
Wed Apr 08 09:15:54 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
Or maybe copy the plist file to snapshot, then do updates, then copy back for more atomic change? That’d also be easier to unit test.
Plists are pretty old macOS stuff so I don’t think there’s too much magic, beyond binary coded hierarchical key value store.
Wed Apr 08 09:20:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
I trust you’ve already looked at plistlib and found it insufficient. But maybe it could be extended to do what you want?
https://docs.python.org/3/library/plistlib.html
Wed Apr 08 10:01:58 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
I think those plists are typically only loaded on service start. I don’t know which service manages Bluetooth admission but hunting for a likely process to HUP/restart might turn up something.
Wed Apr 08 10:04:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
Also from memory Bluetooth pairing is bidirectional, with the “MAC” of each device. And I’m not sure if you can fake that at the Mac end.
FWIW, if you’re taking QC35s they can be paired with up to 8 devices, and connect to most recent two they can find. I did that last week!
Wed Apr 08 10:06:39 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
I’ve been in conference “always be charging” mode for the last few weeks for the same reason :-)
Wed Apr 08 21:10:34 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
Wow, that’s a special edge case!
My best guess would be to find Bluetooth auth daemon, stop it, sync in plist details, then reboot and recheck plist. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s written on daemon exit too.
Wed Apr 08 21:14:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
If you’re not changing back and forth between OS versions often, maybe clear QC35 pairing list (hold pairing slider for 10-15sec) and just re-pair to the devices you want?
(I suspect the Bose app lets one be more selective; I haven’t tried. I cleared pairing list by accident 😃)
Wed Apr 08 21:23:17 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @joelasutherland: Social Isolation, Day 23
Kids: We're booooored! What can we do?
Wife cleaning basement: What are we ever going to…
Wed Apr 08 22:59:16 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
Checking now, there’s a “bluetoothd” running (at least on 10.14). So that’s my guess of what to stop before changing the plist “behind it’s back”.
I found a gist suggesting you need to unload the Bluetooth kext (ie kernel module) to do that.
https://gist.github.com/nicolasembleton/afc19940da26716f8e90
Thu Apr 09 00:35:53 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @behindyourback: there's a plague and everyone's out of yeast, happy Passover
Thu Apr 09 00:37:51 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ExcitedLeigh: I am a ⚪️ man ⚪️ woman 🔘 meetup host
Looking for a ⚪️ man ⚪️ woman 🔘 streaming solution that doesn't turn my apartment's…
Thu Apr 09 01:24:38 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
About 26 hours later my package has arrived at its destination 12km from where it started. \o/
(That’s only half its journey, but the second half will clearly be next week at this stage :-) )
Thu Apr 09 01:54:58 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
FTR that’s delivery about 52 hours after the courier pickup was booked, 12km across town. Courier delivery is definitely slower during the Great Pause!
(And it’s delivery 24 hours after I was within 1km of the destination 😢)
Thu Apr 09 01:59:22 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @theavalkyrie
The usual solution to this is either (a) be prepared to wait weeks not days, or (b) bulk ship to an in country redistributor. (Or both; bulk shipping may have tax implications.)
Old school parcel post is often merely expensive, rather then “next day courier” unaffordable 😃
Thu Apr 09 03:30:58 +0000 2020 (#)
Last chance query: does anyone know SNMP OIDs for Dell N2000/N4000 (Dell NOS 6) fiber-port optical transceiver signal strength (eg, dBm).
I can see it in the UI, but want to graph it long term without forcing every 5 minute ssh logins!
Thu Apr 09 03:32:39 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Almost every other switch vendor exposes fiber signal strength via SNMP because it’s so useful, but an hour of hunting suggests not Dell Networking OS 6 (N2000/N4000)...
Thu Apr 09 05:22:31 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @PatreonStatus: [status] Identified: A scheduled database operation caused an unexpected outage across the site. We have put the site in…
Thu Apr 09 05:26:49 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @trogs and @__fincham
Yeah, I’ve done that snmpwalk everything thing before too :-)
But (a) everything I currently have access to is remote/in production, and (b) I’ve already grepped all the official vendor MIBs without finding anything suitable so I’m not holding out much hope anyway.
Thu Apr 09 05:29:01 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
The Dell N2000/N4000 is a 6-7 year old design (and this hardware is about 5 years old) so I’m not even sure if there is a REST API 😃
But definitely a good thought to check for that option next week (or even web status to screen scrape). Thanks!
Thu Apr 09 05:31:38 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kiwibrew
Naturally this hardware was due to be replaced last year, but bumped due to budget. And to be replaced this year... but it’s hard to tell if that’ll happen now.
(N4000 model has been end of sale for about 12 months already.)
Thu Apr 09 07:04:58 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @nzgizmoguy: First #LockDown project complete. Introducing Bearwall2 a firewall builder that helps you apply consistent firewall policy…
Thu Apr 09 20:01:16 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @jschauma: (A few) Ops Lessons We All Learn The Hard Way -- a Twitter 🧵:
Thu Apr 09 20:03:00 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @cfiesler: One of our classes has been the victim of some really intense zoombombing, and all I can think about is that this is exactly…
Thu Apr 09 20:53:34 +0000 2020 (#)
I’d like to believe this isn’t true (or is at least hyperbole). But there are lots of small countries, and the USA has a lot of corn fields so.... 🤷♂️
(It’s probably accurate within a factor of 2 I suspect.) https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/1248023978876309504
Thu Apr 09 21:49:58 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @KWF: This is your friendly reminder than many Ethernet jacks have smol transformers in them.
Thu Apr 09 21:51:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @tveastman
You call it subsidy, the Corn Gods call it tithing :-)
Thu Apr 09 23:33:28 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @tveastman: "Don't you have a meeting now?"
"It's Easter Friday honey, it's a public holiday"
"...."
"Can't you tell from how everyth…
Fri Apr 10 02:06:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Now virtually attending ComfyConAU, an InfoSec themed virtual con, from my house. Streaming on YouTube Live, with speakers coming in via Zoom. (There’s a Slack if you want to socialise too, but anyone can watch.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWmjlUB6d8 https://www.comfyconau.rocks/schedule
Fri Apr 10 02:33:34 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Speaker changeover entertainment at .@ComfyConAU is steaming photos of furbabies from the Slack Channel 😃
(5 minute speaker changeover gaps, feels normal for a con!)
There’s also speaker Q&A via another Slack Channel.
Fri Apr 10 02:44:02 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Random #Covid19 amusement: Raspberry Pi cameras are orderable during the lockdown (limited stock, most other cameras sold out), but the 1m Pi camera extension cable is restricted (in stock, not orderable)! Edge cases are hard. https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/SEVRBP0072/Raspberry-Pi-Official-Camera-Board-V2-8-Megapixel https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/SEVRBP0084/Raspberry-Pi-FFC-15pin-Ribbon-Cable-1m-Long-for-Ra
Fri Apr 10 02:45:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
- Streaming photos (!)
Fri Apr 10 03:04:50 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
interlace looks like a useful tool to parallel run single threaded (sets of) tools over multiple targets.
Loving the live demo format of talking about it (about 1h into today’s stream). #ComfyConAU
https://github.com/codingo/Interlace https://medium.com/@hakluke/interlace-a-productivity-tool-for-pentesters-and-bug-hunters-automate-and-multithread-your-d18c81371d3d
Fri Apr 10 03:07:19 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ComfyConAU: https://join.slack.com/t/comfyconau/shared_invite/zt-cuv79q5h-P0jQVSc87CENB3OcqIX~qQ Is our link to Join Slack.
Fri Apr 10 03:16:39 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
“Every Morning in 2020: Damage Report” — .@GyledC at #ComfyConAU
(Speaking now: The CIA Triad: Staying Sane in Crazy Times)
Fri Apr 10 03:29:20 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ComfyConAU: Watch Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsWmjlUB6d8 Join Slack Here: https://join.slack.com/t/comfyconau/shared_invite/zt-cuv79q5h-P0jQVSc87CENB3OcqIX~qQ
Fri Apr 10 03:32:04 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
I’m really enjoying how well the common Zoom Custom Background used by all the presenters are working to tie together all the #ComfyConAU speaker/MC presentation locations 👍
(Audio has been great too, honestly probably better than an in person conference :-) )
Fri Apr 10 03:37:26 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
“CIA now: Compassion & community / Integration / Availability” — .@GyledC at #ComfyConAU
Ending with the sign for a (cyber) hug was lovely 💚
Fri Apr 10 05:06:10 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 16: it turns out that enough trees have been cleared from the edge of the top field of the school near me that you can see the harbour (I’m 10+km inland) 💜
(Seems a popular exercise spot!)
Fri Apr 10 05:09:16 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: This belt printer something I've been working with @Creality3dprint on for over a year. Originally I tried to license t…
Fri Apr 10 05:20:21 +0000 2020 (#)
I’m really impressed with how wonderfully the “8-bit Symphony Pro” album has turned out! C64 game theme tunes scored for & performed by a Symphony Orchestra 💚
Digital version out now & sent to KickStarter backers like me; can be bought from their store.
https://c64audio.com/products/8-bit-symphony-pro-pre-order
Fri Apr 10 05:28:31 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @minxdragon: “Reality isn’t always in your head, it’s also in your heart” #littleMissSays
Fri Apr 10 05:34:59 +0000 2020 (#)
#ComfyConAU presenters are getting even more virtualised!
(That’s one of the two MCs, introducing the next speaker 😃)
Fri Apr 10 07:10:50 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 16 (Good Friday) dinner, watching ComfyConAU live stream! (14:00-22:00 local time is a great time schedule for a conference you can attend from home 💙)
https://www.comfyconau.rocks
Fri Apr 10 07:16:09 +0000 2020 (#)
Pwnagotchi is a really cute Raspberry Pi Zero WiFi based Tamagotchi inspired project: you feed it by letting it see new WiFi networks 😃
.@GeorgeColdham just spoke about it at #ComfyConAU https://twitter.com/GeorgeColdham/status/1248506760974893058 https://twitter.com/GeorgeColdham/status/1248506802184085504
Fri Apr 10 07:19:44 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
More information on how the Pwnagotchi works in the (non-threaded) tweets linked below.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GeorgeColdham/status/1248506862737055744 https://twitter.com/GeorgeColdham/status/1248506895435849729
Fri Apr 10 07:36:49 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @jes5199: one more thing; PCB earrings. They don’t do anything, they just look nice.
Fri Apr 10 07:44:34 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @smartereveryday: Face shield Injection molded part 001 (for us). This is the biggest of deals.
Fri Apr 10 07:58:40 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @NerdPyle: It's been bad enough to hear for 20 years that work engineers did to prevent Y2K was for a "non-event." That was the point
I…
Fri Apr 10 08:27:28 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @alicegoldfuss: Dr Fauci says we should never shake hands again and I am 100% here for everyone bowing to me forever
Fri Apr 10 08:55:17 +0000 2020 (#)
If you’ve been watching #ComfyConAU without checking out the Slack, you’re missing out on a lot of the “buzz” of the conference. It’s a very busy Slack channel with lots of discussion!
(A “+10 of scrolling” spell, that someone mentioned on Slack is much needed 😃) https://twitter.com/ComfyConAU/status/1248451658591301632
Fri Apr 10 09:06:23 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
The comfyconau-2020 Slack channel has been pegged on “several people are typing” pretty much constantly for the last hour 😃
(It’s the only Slack I’ve been on where I’ve found Slack’s pseudo-threading more useful than annoying!)
#ComfyConAU
Fri Apr 10 09:37:49 +0000 2020 (#)
Another upcoming infosec virtual conference (2020-05-02), streaming on Twitch. CFP seems to still be open. If the talks at #ComfyConAU inspired you to speak, maybe you want to check it out.
Hat tip to Faith in #ComfyConAU slack for the pointer!
https://airgapp.in
Fri Apr 10 09:59:41 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @TheMonaOgg: disabled people staring directly into the camera The Office-style
[Image caption: screenshot of a 10daily article headli…
Fri Apr 10 10:11:24 +0000 2020 (#)
#ComfyConAU day 1 was everything I hoped for in a virtual conference: stable 720p stream, good audio, great selection of talks, really well run, and lots of “conference buzz” (on Slack).
Thanks @ComfyConAU team!
Looking forward to day 2 (Sat 2020-04-11). https://www.comfyconau.rocks/schedule
Fri Apr 10 20:48:01 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
IIRC the first Raspberry Pi 4 board accidentally tied two USB C power signaling lines together via a common resistor (pull up or pull down). Which resulted in out of protocol signaling combinations. A bunch of PS ignored those lines so it “sort of worked”.
Fri Apr 10 20:49:11 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
Good to hear you’ve got a fixed revision of the board. (Which I believe was “use two resistors instead of one” 😃)
Fri Apr 10 22:38:11 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
Only the finest upcycling at work, starting from materials that would otherwise go to waste! 💚
Sat Apr 11 01:23:22 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ComfyConAU: Is everyone ready for Day #2? We start at 11:55 AEST! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8aseMjlrao Slack: https://join.slack.com/t/comfyconau/shared_invite/zt-cuv79q5h-P0jQVSc87CENB3OcqIX~qQ http…
Sat Apr 11 02:02:03 +0000 2020 (#)
#ComfyConAU day 2 is live now! (Watching day 2 open take 2 now :-) )
Apparently an average of a out 300 people watching yesterday (peaking to over 450).
Slack is buzzing again!
(Links to join in down in the quoted tweet.) https://twitter.com/ComfyConAU/status/1248757835355185152
Sat Apr 11 03:53:25 +0000 2020 (#)
“Security comes from Operational Excellence” — @catofnineswords preaching the gospel at #comfyconAU
Repeatable processes matter :-)
Sat Apr 11 04:19:26 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @IanColdwater: famous last words in computing:
"a user would never do that"
Sat Apr 11 04:49:51 +0000 2020 (#)
Headspace app suggested as a tool to help with meditation/mindfulness. Also Brain FM as music for mindfulness. — .@g1schwer at #comfyconAU
Mental health is important, and especially needs attention at present.
https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app https://www.brain.fm
Sat Apr 11 04:54:49 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
In the #ComfyConAU Slack a few people are also recommending Act Mindfully.
https://www.actmindfully.com.au/free-stuff/
Sat Apr 11 04:58:06 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ExcitedLeigh: "When we started planning #ComfyConAU on the 17th of March..."
This is an amazing event, especially given how quickly it…
Sat Apr 11 05:51:03 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @GyledC: One of the joyful things in attending #ComfyConAU are the #CCAUFurBabies. This is the virtual #cybersecurity con we need during…
Sat Apr 11 06:55:21 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @MantisProducts and @tveastman
Yes I believe that’s the official policy of most courier companies at present, “signing” on behalf of the customers.
The ones I’ve observed (deliveries to neighbours) seem to also be taking a photo of the package in the delivery location presumably for future reference.
Sat Apr 11 06:57:54 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @MantisProducts and @tveastman
The courier delivery I received a week or so ago, “signature required” possibly did get my name (as I heard them arrive and opened the door) but still got no signature from me and a photo taken as proof of delivery.
Sat Apr 11 06:59:01 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @eey0re: The next few days are a good time to follow Apollo in real time, 50 years delayed. https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1248713628049723393
Sat Apr 11 07:14:21 +0000 2020 (#)
“How to Fight a Virus with a Spreadsheet” — .@abaranov at #ComfyConAU presenting from a spreadsheet!
comfycontalkv0.04.xlsx 😂
(FTR the virus spoken about was an earlier computer worm, from a few years ago.)
Sat Apr 11 07:15:44 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @Caccia7r1c3: "ansi art is tired. excel art is wired." - Exhibit A @silviocesare #ComfyConAU
Sat Apr 11 07:33:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Awesome pixel art for the presentation, combined with great take aways: collect the data, query it to figure out what to improve. Improve all the things.
A great corollary to the earlier “Security comes from Operational Excellence” :-)
#ComfyConAU
Sat Apr 11 07:51:59 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: I don't talk about LGBT issues on my channel, I simply exist with gender expression that is well established in the Asi…
Sat Apr 11 08:11:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Velociraptor, an endpoint visibility/collection/query tool from .@velocidex. Great overview of the tool presented at #ComfyConAU.
Digital Paleontology :-)
https://github.com/Velocidex/velociraptor
Sat Apr 11 08:43:29 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @EmberFoxie: When you're the #sysadmin you get to decide the server room dress code.
Sat Apr 11 09:05:47 +0000 2020 (#)
“Fireside chat with Tilley” at #ComfyConAU
This is fine 😂
Sat Apr 11 10:34:26 +0000 2020 (#)
#ComfyConAU day 2 was equally as good as day 1!
Well worth attending, virtually, and hanging out for a couple of days on Slack. They even had merch sales (still open).
If you didn’t catch it live, look out for videos on their YouTube channel “soon”. https://twitter.com/ewenmcneill/status/1248554162507280384
Sat Apr 11 22:33:47 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Liftoff! Apollo 13 liftoff at 13 minutes past the hour. #Apollo13 #Apollo50
Sat Apr 11 22:37:21 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @tveastman: This twitter feed is recreating in real time (50 years exactly) the Apollo program. It's up to Apollo 13, you should follow…
Sun Apr 12 06:33:23 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 18 (Easter Sunday): overcast and windy, but still lots of cheer in the windows (and some people out exercising).
Sun Apr 12 06:42:10 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 18 (Easter Sunday): more window cheer.
It’s interesting to me that several of the window displays have clearly been updated (changed or expanded) since I last went past, and not all just for Easter. (Obviously lots of Easter theme today though!)
Sun Apr 12 07:54:14 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @SamWangPhD: I am sorry to confirm the passing of my colleague John Conway. An incomparable mathematician, a pleasant neighbor, and an e…
Sun Apr 12 19:15:36 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @SteveBellovin: The perfect tribute! https://twitter.com/hardmaru/status/1249142234131378182
Sun Apr 12 19:16:08 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ZachWeiner: Whipped this up after I heard the news
Sun Apr 12 19:21:26 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @AdiShavit: Mathematician and genius John Conway, inventor of The Game of Life has succumbed to COVID-19 today. What a terrible loss for…
Sun Apr 12 21:02:01 +0000 2020 (#)
The backstory on #ComfyConAU, from one of the people running the (virtual) con, who was also one of the MCs.
Everything about the con happened in under a month!
https://medium.com/@wan0net/thoughts-on-comfycon-au-2020-cd8037834adb
Sun Apr 12 22:06:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Following Apollo 13 in “real time” 50 years later is wild 😂
(Also, breaking news, the Beatles just announced they’re no longer performing live.) https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1249419800134053889
Mon Apr 13 01:50:43 +0000 2020 (#)
@fsmgnz Looks like you’re mirroring Raspbian as well, thanks for that!
Is it deliberately shared one level further down than the upstream source? I’m needing to use https://mirror.fsmg.org.nz/raspbian/raspbian/ as the prefix for packages to be found... :-)
Mon Apr 13 01:51:35 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @andrewtychen: HackTheCrisis NZ is on this coming weekend - an online innovation challenge to develop solutions for supporting businesse…
Mon Apr 13 01:57:33 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham and @fsmgnz
Looks like the official mirror has dists and pools under http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian/ (and that’s the URL in sources.list).
I guess it’s a side effect of the “mirrored to a subdirectory” that gives /raspbian/raspbian/; it’s just surprising compared with what Debian, Ubuntu, etc do 😃
Mon Apr 13 02:04:24 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @nzgizmoguy, @__fincham and @fsmgnz
Thanks for the explanation. Sounds like an upstream violation of the Principle of Least Surprise :-)
Might be worth noting sources.list entry desired/required on https://fsmg.org.nz/pages/mirrors.html?
(I’m using FSMG directly because I wanted an IPv6 Mirror :-) )
Mon Apr 13 02:45:51 +0000 2020 (#)
When you’re suddenly in isolation, it turns out not everything got fully planned/trained in advance! 😂
(Fortunately the “out of country” tax filing extension seems to apply :-) )
#Apollo50 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1249475726220218368
Mon Apr 13 02:55:25 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @kawaiiconNZ: Chef Crüe Update: Kawaiicon have decided to drop the content and go FULL shtick. Instead of a con this year we are excited…
Mon Apr 13 02:58:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Kawaiicon II: the countertop edition!
“Salt Fat Acid Heap” #KawaiiCon https://kawaiicon.org
Mon Apr 13 07:00:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
Honestly, being able to continue anything approximating a normal life in the middle of a crisis is amazing overachieving. Maslow’s Hierachy of Spoons says that almost all spoons go to survival in a crisis 😃
Mon Apr 13 07:04:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
(To pick recent examples) would anyone be worrying whether they are learning sufficient new skills with their “spare time” if we all couldn’t travel due to state wide bush fires? Or flooding?
It’s no different just because the panic is hostile RNA... :-)
Mon Apr 13 19:32:09 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @bethcodes: As I, a programmer, walked out the door in my trench coat, black mask and tshirt portraying a city being sucked into the swi…
Mon Apr 13 19:52:52 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @kawaiiconNZ and @Metlstorm
Parallel invention: CTF for ingredients 😃
#KawaiiCon https://twitter.com/catzoup/status/1249048781582188545
Mon Apr 13 21:45:47 +0000 2020 (#)
Gauge is off scale now; was okay this morning. 😲
Hope it works out safely! 😬 #Apollo13 #Apollo50 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1249772961478766600
Mon Apr 13 21:46:17 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: CAPCOM: "All right, Jack. One thing we'd like to have done sometime soon is to have you cycle the cryo fans in O₂ tank 2 o…
Mon Apr 13 21:50:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Well that doesn’t sound great...!
“we found that the heater cycle had a tank 1 pressure of about 233 psi, which is well above the caution and warning limit”
#Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1249805524800958465
Mon Apr 13 22:30:44 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @NightlingBug: The only unifying trait of "AMAB people" that's useful to talk about is that we're all subjected as kids to messaging tha…
Mon Apr 13 23:56:03 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @isomer
No I haven’t listened to that series, but it’s in my “to listen” pile :-)
I have seen the movie multiple times, and read a bunch about it though, so I’m mostly tweeting about it as ironic distraction!
Thanks for the reminder 😂
Tue Apr 14 00:45:57 +0000 2020 (#)
Oops, nerdsniped myself into MacPorts linking issues; work around seems to be:
sudo port install libgcrypt LDFLAGS="-L/opt/local/lib" sudo --preserve-env=LDFLAGS port upgrade -s -n --force jpilot
(Ancient PW database if you’re wondering.) https://trac.macports.org/ticket/60350
Tue Apr 14 00:49:38 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mithro
AFAIK ice40 and FuPy builds/runs okay on TinyFPGA BX again, via litex-buildenv. Probably other litex boards/targets too, if they’ve been updated to 2020 litex (newer CSR layout).
(Most of work to fix TinyFPGA BX was on litex-buildenv side.)
Tue Apr 14 01:02:08 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @isomer: @ewenmcneill Have you listened to @BradyHeywoodPod about this mission? He goes through all the engineering details of what's g…
Tue Apr 14 01:06:19 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @isomer
If anyone else is wondering the Apollo 13 series is episodes 20-26 of the Brady Heywood Podcast.
(Reminded by @isomer I’ve just started listening to them, since now seems as good a time as any to get around to it! 😃)
https://bradyheywood.libsyn.com
Tue Apr 14 01:06:33 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ewenmcneill: @isomer If anyone else is wondering the Apollo 13 series is episodes 20-26 of the Brady Heywood Podcast.
(Reminded by @i…
Tue Apr 14 01:22:08 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Lovell: "Okay. Well, you're pretty close. [The CAUTION and WARNING light on H₂ tank 1] just came on." CAPCOM: "Any other p…
Tue Apr 14 01:22:35 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: CAPCOM: "And I won't bother you with those calls [about the caution and warnings] anymore, unless you especially want them…
Tue Apr 14 02:38:13 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
Sounds like the same problem as excessive in person meetings to me.
I just use issue/tickets, email (for other async/high context things) and some text chat (IRC, Slack) for things needing a brief check in with someone in semi-real-time. Very few meetings of any sort.
Tue Apr 14 02:40:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
IRC/Slack in relevant group channels that people can skim if not involved is an extremely useful way of keeping others ambiently up to date on what’s happening “in the office” without requiring their 100% attention. (Just reaching the right team is vital.)
Tue Apr 14 02:42:11 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
FWIW, IME most places have too few channels because of fear of “hard to keep up”. Ironically it’s way easier to keep up when you know only 5 of 50 channels relate to you and can mute the rest unless mentioned. Just saying.
Tue Apr 14 04:13:23 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Lovell: "Houston, we've had a problem." #Apollo13 #Apollo50
Tue Apr 14 04:13:26 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Swigert: "Okay, Houston, I believe we've had a problem here." CAPCOM: "This is Houston. Say again, please." #Apollo13 #Apo…
Tue Apr 14 04:13:46 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Lovell: "... and it looks to me, looking out the hatch, that we are venting something. We are venting something out into t…
Tue Apr 14 07:42:30 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @isomer
Yes, they’ve been on my “to listen” list since he spoke at LCA :-) (My “downloaded already” podcast list generally has 50-100 hours in it!)
I’m now half way through the Apollo 13 podcasts, and enjoying them. Thanks again for the timely reminder!
Tue Apr 14 07:59:23 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: I actually did a deep dive and asked around about this.
In 1953 Issac Asimov introduced the "Spacers" in "The Caves of…
Tue Apr 14 08:01:58 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
Those came out really well! I especially like the third one, it feels very delicate pen and ink to me 💚
Tue Apr 14 08:06:32 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @LapTop006 and @ktemkin
Yes, this ⬆️
Mine is very much “why not both”! Many years of mindfulness at least gives me words to talk back to it... which helps sometimes :-)
Tue Apr 14 10:02:37 +0000 2020 (#)
Well that certainly turned into an eventful day!
(They’re in the LM now, but yet to figure out their precise attitude for navigation, or their plans beyond the immediate situation! Still well worth following along in “real time” 😃)
#Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1249995933787377664
Tue Apr 14 20:16:59 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ThrillScience: I received an email from John Graham-Cumming telling me my code was in the original Terminator movie. And it's true!
He…
Tue Apr 14 20:24:35 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @SwiftOnSecurity: “Our work indicates that the actual difference between a low-end CPAP device and a high-end BIPAP iVAPS device [suitab…
Tue Apr 14 20:29:26 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @cyberpunk_plots: @bethcodes The year is 2020. New America is run by a crooked game show host. He plots to increase his TV ratings while…
Tue Apr 14 20:40:21 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @LaF0rge: The COVID-19 tracking app in Singapore is released by the government as Free Software under GPLv3. I am not saying I support…
Tue Apr 14 21:14:05 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
About 10 hours later they’ve got a plan to use a nearby star, our sun!, to figure out navigation. And have already realised CO2 is going to be a challenge. Lots of real tine replanning, and lots of preplanned contingency procedures.
#Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250147418366046209
Tue Apr 14 21:21:58 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Successful sun check!
It’s interesting how much margin they had on the sun position check: lined up within a couple of sun diameters was sufficient (and yet still tricky to do given limited controls).
#Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250167028003909632
Tue Apr 14 22:21:27 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @manjusrii: 2. My main concern is not with contact tracing. It’s a good idea.
My concern is government has a history of using our data…
Wed Apr 15 03:33:39 +0000 2020 (#)
Mood: “It only seems like it’s been that long.”
!!
I suspect there’s a few billion people feeling that way, for a different reason, about now 😃
#Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250210406238281728
Wed Apr 15 03:34:39 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Haise: "What do you see out your upper window?" Lovell: "Stars." Haise: "Yes. It looks like - looks like the light is comi…
Wed Apr 15 03:45:26 +0000 2020 (#)
“GO for the burn.” #Apollo13 course correction for free return. #Apollo50
Navigation during the burn is... by the moon. The full moon. An extra large full moon I’m sure :-) https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250250350893748226
Wed Apr 15 03:53:21 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Then very quickly focus moves to addressing the CO2 levels.
“We wish we could send you a kit and it would be kind of like putting a model airplane together or something.”
Improvisation with whatever you have with you at home! #Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250268639443316739
Wed Apr 15 08:06:01 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ThrillScience: Using a 5-bit 1930s-era Teletype as a Linux Terminal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XLZ4Z8LpEE
#RetroComputing #RetroGaming
Wed Apr 15 08:06:15 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ThrillScience: @BtcBlackthorne Here's where it's from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRnnjoiSV-U&feature=youtu.be&t=328
Watch the whole video and see from where James Cameron…
Wed Apr 15 08:09:05 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @scarybeasts: [blog] [release] Clocking a 6502 to 15GHz (!): https://scarybeastsecurity.blogspot.com/2020/04/clocking-6502-to-15ghz.html https://youtu.be/Fr-IZAb5Gj8
Wed Apr 15 08:25:06 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @AriDrennen: But like, how do you just know you’re cis? What if it’s all just a big mistake?
Wed Apr 15 09:06:25 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ComfyConAU: We're going to test in prod. The new home of ComfyCon AU is on Discord! Feel free to join us there: https://discord.gg/n2NBb9c
Wed Apr 15 09:08:03 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: Wet Markets = Farmers Markets (slaughtering and selling exotic wildlife is a separate issue and can't occur privately o…
Wed Apr 15 10:10:09 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Haise: "Jack, I can definitely tell we're moving away from the Moon, now. I got it all in the monocular at one time." #Apo…
Wed Apr 15 21:25:38 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @pycon: 🎉 #PyCon2020 Online has launched!
Hop to https://us.pycon.org/2020/online/ to access all of our online content.
Read the announcement he…
Wed Apr 15 21:55:33 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Astronaut Donald K. "Deke" Slayton holding "the mailbox", a modification to the square Apollo 13 CM lithium hydroxide cani…
Wed Apr 15 22:03:20 +0000 2020 (#)
Tech support IN SPACE!
Adapting a square peg to connect to a round hole, using only bits you had lying around and weren’t using. Because resupply runs aren’t an option 😃
(Common spares, people. Systems with common spares!)
#Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250408546232983552
Wed Apr 15 22:15:03 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @insomniasec: New blog post from @zantedotnz discussing a bug he found in Auth0. https://t.co/dvmiOq3XAd
Wed Apr 15 23:25:04 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
For those worrying at home, I did end up getting the battery in my Late 2013 MacBook Pro replaced by a third part Apple repair place (only option before end of lockdown).
9 calendar days turn around, over Easter during a pandemic lockdown, is pretty good. https://twitter.com/ewenmcneill/status/1245871088061411329
Wed Apr 15 23:25:29 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ewenmcneill: For those worrying at home, I did end up getting the battery in my Late 2013 MacBook Pro replaced by a third part Apple re…
Wed Apr 15 23:27:31 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Of those 9 calendar days for the repair, all 5 working days were used up by the across town (12km) courier process: 3 working days in one direction, and 2 working days in the other direction.
So far battery seems good, touchpad is restored to functionality, and case sits flat.
Wed Apr 15 23:29:31 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: "The Apollo 13 astronauts, and their crippled ship, are back within the grasp of the Earth's gravity tonight, though they'…
Thu Apr 16 00:21:08 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Unfortunately my MacBook came back having forgotten its hardware serial number (About This Mac shows “Serial Number: Unavailable”).
And it’s looking like more than one piece of software might be node locked to the old serial number (eg Alfred, Adobe Creative Cloud) 😕
Thu Apr 16 02:33:54 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
And I’ve just noticed it’s also unable to display the exact MacBook model it is any longer. About This Mac just says “MacBook Pro” with no model information.
It appears this info is supposed to come from the SMC, which gets it from the EFI SPI flash when it boots.
Thu Apr 16 07:00:03 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Rapid prototyping :-)
First two filters were connected with the first plan they came up with, and described over the radio. As developed just in time.
By the time the next ones were needed, they already had a better build procedure!
#Apollo50 #Apollo13 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250666133755064321
Thu Apr 16 07:13:33 +0000 2020 (#)
.@whitequark is one of the most active developers on a huge variety of open source FPGA tools and open source hardware. I immediately pledged some support when I saw this, and 130+ others have too.
But the monthly total is still under minimum wage. Hopefully it will increase 💚 https://twitter.com/whitequark/status/1250519176055328775
Thu Apr 16 08:36:29 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @rmi
Thanks. And yes I (and the service place) were both surprised to see the serial number gone after the battery change. Hardware specs seem otherwise the same as before, and it’s definitely my flash drive in it. So (without being able to open case) I think it’s the same mainboard.
Thu Apr 16 08:39:20 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @rmi
From... a bunch of research the serial seems to be stored on the EFI SPI flash used to boot the SMC. And monkey patched into each SMC flash update (over place holders in the Apple supplied image). So possibly it went missing earlier, and only got noticed when SMC restarted.
Thu Apr 16 08:42:17 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @rmi
Searching online turns up a bunch of people who had the serial number “suddenly” disappear on a bunch of different models over the years. And references to that Apple internal tool being used to fix it.
(Plus early 10.15 upgrade bricked EFI/SMC for several people it seems.)
Thu Apr 16 09:00:46 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @rmi
And FWIW, the serial number on the bottom of the case is identical to before (I have photos), and the stickers on the top/bottom case came back identical too. Given it’s the same case and mainboard specs, I’m assuming its most likely to be the same mainboard. HW seems to work.
Thu Apr 16 09:32:22 +0000 2020 (#)
TIL that there’s a site which will render formulas in LaTeX format into transparent PNGs. (Their Let’s Encrypt TLS cert expired months ago, so I’m not sure how well maintained it is.)
http://latex2png.com
Thu Apr 16 09:49:06 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ktemkin: Part one of my blog-series on open-toolchain FPGA hardware discusses the differences between the iCE40 HX, an iCE40 UltraPlus,…
Thu Apr 16 19:57:08 +0000 2020 (#)
“I believe in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things” — Dirk Gently https://twitter.com/8051Enthusiast/status/1248658958400749570
Thu Apr 16 21:17:02 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @bcrypt: 2015: setting JWT alg to 'none' bypasses verification
2020: setting JWT alg to 'nonE' bypasses verification
lmaoooo https://t…
Thu Apr 16 21:31:43 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: CAPCOM: "Okay. Entry interface is at 142 hours 40 minutes (in 22 hours, 16 minutes); 6½ hours, roughly, prior to that or a…
Thu Apr 16 22:33:37 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
The Alfred app support team replied very promptly and confirmed the serial number is part of their activation hash. But said the app had a workaround for missing serial numbers and that I could reuse the activation key. Which I’ve just successfully done.
Thu Apr 16 22:36:21 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
FTR, the exact model information seems to be derived from the “hwc” value in the EFI SPI flash. And that appears to be the last four characters of the “ssn” (serial) value. It looks like both are set by the Blank Board Serializer.
So losing exact model seems a common symptom.
Fri Apr 17 01:23:34 +0000 2020 (#)
Battery charge monitoring via visual read outs and voice transmissions!
Yet another of the unexpected procedures — rebalancing the batteries — that got done during the #Apollo13 “alternative” trip!
Who needs electronic charge controllers anyway?! 😃
#Apollo50 https://twitter.com/apollo_50th/status/1250944516443353088
Fri Apr 17 01:26:20 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @marcdaalder: #BREAKING: The Government is looking at a $100 million project to manufacture and distribute a Bluetooth-enabled "CovidCar…
Fri Apr 17 06:18:17 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @finiteatticus: Whoever made this. I love you.
Fri Apr 17 06:44:08 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: CAPCOM: "Only comments as follows: your consumables are looking good; your entry gamma right now is minus 6.01. We're expe…
Fri Apr 17 08:57:59 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @LapTop006: Sydney really is annoyingly pretty.
Fri Apr 17 09:24:47 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Flight: "Hang in there. It won't be long now." Lovell: "Yes. That's right." #Apollo13 #Apollo50
Fri Apr 17 22:09:33 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @xssfox: can anyone spot the issue with the algo? red is original data point, 400 "anonymized" data points calculated https://t.co/Ucig…
Fri Apr 17 22:27:25 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @VTeagueAus: 7/7: It's an educational experience for me because, even though the source code is openly available, one of its most privac…
Fri Apr 17 23:12:15 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: CAPCOM: "Got you on television, babe." #Apollo13 #Apollo50
Fri Apr 17 23:12:20 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas, watches the Apollo 13 spacecraft Odyssey nearly at the end of its journey. #Apollo…
Fri Apr 17 23:13:36 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: Apollo 13 Command Module Pilot (CMP) John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr., being hoisted second from the life rafts floating by the…
Sat Apr 18 01:17:06 +0000 2020 (#)
Python XDoctest looks like a useful extension to easily embedding testable examples in Python function documentation.
Via #PyConline #PyCon2020 talk by the module author, Jon Crall. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CUjCqOw_oFk https://pypi.org/project/xdoctest/ https://xdoctest.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ https://github.com/Erotemic/xdoctest
Sat Apr 18 06:25:05 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 24: It’s still very pretty outside even if it feels a bit David Lynch film surreal...
Sat Apr 18 06:34:53 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 24: lots of window displays (and some of the Easter themed ones are still up nearly a week later).
Sat Apr 18 06:35:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @Ronindrone
Vaguely: looking over Ohariu Valley from Old Coach Road.
Sat Apr 18 06:42:57 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @tveastman
Looking like a Peter Jackson film, yes.
Feeling like a David Lynch film.
(Extra surreal in my case by walking while listening to podcasts from New York recorded a couple of weeks ago...)
Sat Apr 18 06:47:29 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ncasenmare: Wait... how can Covid-19 contact tracing apps (like #DP3T and @COVIDWatchApp) protect our health AND privacy?
Well! Here's…
Sat Apr 18 06:48:30 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @FirstGentleman: President: Great things will happen when we reopen America!
America right before it reopens:
Sat Apr 18 06:52:45 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @stilgherrian: IMPORTANT: Medical “contact tracing” is about finding out who might have been in contact with whom. Exactly where and whe…
Sat Apr 18 07:59:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @unixbigot and @tveastman
Many of the early period Jackson shooting locations aren’t that far from here... :-)
Sat Apr 18 08:39:58 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @VTeagueAus: So "who gets the contact list in a normal run of the Covid Trace protocol?" isn't the only question. The other important q…
Sat Apr 18 08:43:27 +0000 2020 (#)
TIL that the combination of Zoom and Board Game Arena makes a lovely virtual birthday party for my board gaming friend. Especially combined with a Zoom account level that allows “breakout rooms”, ie one VC per virtual game table.
https://en.boardgamearena.com
Sun Apr 19 02:20:17 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ComfyConAU: How to Fight a Virus with a Spreadsheet - @abaranov https://youtu.be/smv7jfbLeP4
Sun Apr 19 02:22:44 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @ComfyConAU: Pwnagotchi, Your new digital pet! - @GeorgeColdham https://youtu.be/ds4k0uHCA-g
Sun Apr 19 02:34:37 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @NedGilmore: New Zealand's natural instinct is to disappear off the bottom of any map as fast as possible. https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1251602799525113856
Sun Apr 19 02:39:16 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @theavalkyrie
FWIW USB host options for embedded have been recently discussed on the 1BitSquared Discord and/or the USB Tools Discord. From memory there are some relatively inexpensive microcontrollers (~ $5 quantity 1) with both USB device and USB host support, at least for low/full speed.
Sun Apr 19 02:57:40 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @theavalkyrie
Fair enough! There’s been quite a lot of work on open source USB support recently, so possibly there’d be others willing to help with USB development?
Totally understand the concern though. I feel the same “this seems complex” about USB. Others managing is inspiring though 💚
Sun Apr 19 04:37:59 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @jillrouleau
9 feels like table stakes for a tea event, TBH. I think I’ve got at least 9 teas/infusions in the house that I drink regularly (5x black teas, 3x green teas, and a lemongrass/ginger infusion). There’s definitely more in the cupboard... :-)
So yes people should send you more 😃
Sun Apr 19 04:41:44 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 25: the weather is being dramatic in that Wellington autumnal wind kind of way!
Sun Apr 19 09:03:24 +0000 2020 (#)
“The History is the Prophet Synthesizer” (from 2018)
If you’re fond of the late 1970s/early 1980s synthesizer sound this is a great review of the models and how they got used.
(Hat tip to .@esden for the pointer to the video.) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruh0B5QKBMs
Sun Apr 19 22:40:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Courier karma in my favour: DHL just delivered two days earlier than estimated and mid morning so I didn’t have to wait all day for a possible delivery 💚
(I think it’s early because it made it through customs quickly.)
Sun Apr 19 22:43:26 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Curiously CourierPost and DHL notifications still talk of the need to authorise delivery without signature, but none of the couriers has wanted a signature.
Possibly reality is out running the ability to update notification templates?!
Sun Apr 19 22:56:10 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @nzgizmoguy
Good luck!
Yes, getting hold of anyone at couriers seems to be difficult at present (just before Easter I had a similar experience to you).
Redirecting delivery via web form URL texted out when delivery is ready seems the least painful option (but hard to do in advance!).
Mon Apr 20 01:55:51 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 26: it feels like supermarkets are recovering! Shopping lunchtime today, both CommonSense and New World in the Wellington CBD had no queues outside. Plus a few things that had been out of stock were back in stock. Phew!
(First shop since before Easter.)
Mon Apr 20 02:52:41 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @jillrouleau
Seems like a “trick” that’d only work once :-)
(On asking again: “you’re all trained, but I can sit and watch you work this time if you want” 😃)
Mon Apr 20 02:55:22 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: A good article on the logistics of how we handled food distribution during the crises and avoided lines at food pantrie…
Mon Apr 20 03:16:43 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
This ⬆️ is really the point: maths is really a way of describing or analysing the world. So if you look it’s everywhere, just below the surface.
But maths gets taught as this abstract thing that “you need to know”, “it’ll be useful later” without the connections being shown 🙁
Mon Apr 20 05:59:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
From memory discussion in the last couple of weeks revealed Zoom were using a “non-standard” definition of “end to end encryption”. IIRC Zoom can decrypt in the middle, but “usually don’t”. Which TBH sounds like any legally compliant message service.
Mon Apr 20 06:03:19 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
USA FOSTA/SESTA basically require MITM traffic inspection to be legal, and the EARN bill in the USA will more explicitly require it.
So I think the only news is Zoom admitting they’re doing checks on traffic when their systems suggest it’s necessary.
Mon Apr 20 06:04:12 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @covid19nz: We will be moving to Alert Level 3 on Tuesday 28 April.
More information soon.
Mon Apr 20 06:04:26 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @Jasonwalls92: BREAKING: PM Jacinda Ardern has confirmed New Zealand will move out of alert level 4 at 11:59 April 27 – next Monday.
NZ…
Mon Apr 20 06:16:05 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: The Apollo 13 astronauts have now arrived back in Houston. #Apollo13 #Apollo50
Mon Apr 20 09:14:05 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @mattcen
Yes I agree that Zoom’s communication around some of these features would benefit from being revised. The progressive disclosure of “and decrypt for this...” isn’t a great look :-(
Hopefully their new advisory team (of well known folks) can help them be more upfront about it.
Mon Apr 20 21:42:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @nzgizmoguy
🤦🏻♂️
I wonder how much time is being wasted by blindly trying to deliver to locations that are known to be closed by Government rules, just to prove it couldn’t be done?!
Hope it arrives soon!
Mon Apr 20 21:59:26 +0000 2020 (#)
SmartMonTools Ticket #1313 about some “NAS” magnetic drives that turn out to be SMR (shingled, with writeback cache) rather then CMR (conventional magnetic). Seems TRIM support on a magnetic drive is a red flag, but not always exposed on all SMR drives. https://www.smartmontools.org/ticket/1313?cversion=0&cnum_hist=13
Mon Apr 20 22:02:11 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Random speculation: we’ll end up with “write intensive” and “read intensive” magnetic drives, like there are with SSDs (depending on storage encoding levels).
SMR is potentially useful for large “cold storage” (write once, store forever), but shouldn’t be a surprise feature!
Mon Apr 20 22:04:58 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Link via this YouTube explanation video, which has more background information on the recent admissions. Including some WD Red (“NAS”) models and interaction with RAID resync and “not responding” timeouts. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1JP7A_A0tY4
Mon Apr 20 22:11:48 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @llanga: The last ever release of Python 2.7 is now officially out. Python 2 is no longer supported by the core team. This marks the end…
Mon Apr 20 22:48:20 +0000 2020 (#)
I guess I’m not changing my postal address at Vodafone (NZ) today 😢
Two browsers, multiple attempts, address lookup mostly fails, saving XHR keeps getting 500 response. UI stays stuck at “Saving...”
The full stack trace is a nice touch, but I don’t want to debug Java today 🙁
Mon Apr 20 23:17:34 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 27: carrying on saving history because someone has to. Some of these were posted nearly a week ago, yet “First Archive”.
(Go to Web Archive, scroll down, enter URL, hit Save Page twice, be thanked in a few decades by historians.) https://web.archive.org
Mon Apr 20 23:34:58 +0000 2020 (#)
For NZ businesses with sudden technology expenses it looks like there’s a short term bump in the “low value asset, write off 100% I one year” threshold, until early 2021. $5000 threshold instead of $500 (10x).
#Covid19 https://www.ird.govt.nz/covid-19/tax-relief/depreciation https://web.archive.org/save/https://www.ird.govt.nz/covid-19/tax-relief/depreciation
Mon Apr 20 23:39:07 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
I’ve not been able to figure out where/when this temporary depreciation change was announced. So check with your accountant before any new purchases!
But buying before March 2021 seems to be more cash flow/tax advantageous than buying after March 2021, if you need it anyway.
Tue Apr 21 00:12:35 +0000 2020 (#)
Oxidized is a RANCID replacement for backing up network device configuration. Seems to be written in Ruby and include a RESTful API.
(Hat tip to .@catofnineswords for pointer on the #ComfyConAU Discord.)
https://github.com/ytti/oxidized
Tue Apr 21 00:12:53 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @henriksen: So, in Norway the gov made a Covid tracker app. Wouldn't open the source code, saying open source was a security risk, espec…
Tue Apr 21 02:15:10 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @catofnineswords
Most of my clients have... extensively customised RANCID setups, which would be difficult to migrate, so I’m not sure when I’d use Oxidized.
But it’s definitely useful to know about a “less technical debt” option for any future installs :-)
Tue Apr 21 02:59:06 +0000 2020 (#)
Barr Group Embedded C Coding Standard (also available as printed book for sale, or free non redistributable PDF to download).
Via .@jonoxer in a pre-release SuperHouse video, available to Patreons now; video public in a few days. https://barrgroup.com/embedded-systems/books/embedded-c-coding-standard https://www.patreon.com/superhouse
Tue Apr 21 06:39:02 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
It turns out the video is public earlier than I thought: if you like source code walk throughs, you can watch it now. The Barr Group Embedded C suggestions are referenced at a few points in the video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4UjUddxB_aQ
Tue Apr 21 08:01:54 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @TimdeSousa: I've been commenting a lot on the OzGov's COVID tracing app. To be clear, I'm not against the concept - I just think that i…
Tue Apr 21 08:32:05 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @SoniaCuff and @developerjack
To translate to IT speak: “some planned maintenance is service critical”, and “sometimes planned maintenance can be temporarily deferred, but doing so carries an additional risk to service uptime”.
“Elective surgery” is insufficiently precise to triage ASAP/wait/never by itself.
Tue Apr 21 08:43:34 +0000 2020 (#)
TIL about xonsh, a Python-powered Unix like shell.
Via .@ktemkin’s Luna (FPGA) stream earlier today (which I’m watching on YouTube now; also on Twitch I believe). https://xon.sh https://github.com/xonsh/xonsh https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eI3anXcdBdA
Tue Apr 21 08:57:23 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
And via the same stream, I learn of Airserver which is software (and optionally hardware) that implements AirPlay and Google Cast, etc.
Looks handy if you want to capture/stream from a device that doesn’t easily support that. https://www.airserver.com/Mac https://www.airserver.com/WindowsDesktop
Tue Apr 21 08:57:55 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @TimdeSousa: It's simply not true that you must give up privacy and security for safety. At least, not in this instance.
It is technic…
Tue Apr 21 21:26:19 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: This is literally my entire YouTube channel. https://twitter.com/timhwang/status/1252351811668721668
Tue Apr 21 21:31:58 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @SrdjanCapkun: #DP3T COVID contact tracing - free, decentralized, open source, and privacy preserving. We hope that with contact tracing…
Wed Apr 22 00:17:15 +0000 2020 (#)
Dear Switch Engineers, perhaps your VLT split brain handling should take into account whether all the VLT member interfaces have been turned off on the VLT peer that just vanished before you decide to turn off all the local interfaces because of split brain? Just saying 🙁
Wed Apr 22 00:20:51 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Also, you have an entire backup link to use. Your split brain sanity checking could be more than just “I can ping the management interface of the VLT peer therefore the peer must be doing full production, so I should stop”. 😔
(Eg all links down probably means not in service.)
Wed Apr 22 00:41:25 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
On the plus side, we found this is semi production rather than full production. But it did make firmware patching rather more exciting than I’d expected it to be :-(
Wed Apr 22 00:49:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
On the Dell S5248F it turns out that BMC firmware 1.01 has a bug that causes it to sometimes claim fans or power supplies are misbehaving. Apparently fixed in BMC firmware 1.02.
Patching remote switch BMC firmware via ONIE during a pandemic is the wrong kind of fun 😢
Wed Apr 22 00:54:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
For anyone else doing this, there’s a really long delay (minutes) at both “99%” (flashed) and “BIOS initializations...”. So wait at least 5 minutes before worrying.
Other than the surprise VLT behaviour, the firmware upgrade seems to have gone smoothly.
Wed Apr 22 03:44:59 +0000 2020 (#)
TIL the Dell S5248F switch has a BMC that supports IPMI, including network. It DHCPs for an IP address.
The BMC IPMI MAC address is the switch mgmt address, + 1. The address of the first data plane interface (Eth1/1/1:1) is also mgmt MAC + 1 🤦🏻♂️ https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/nz/en/nzbsd1/networking-s5248f-on/s5200-on_bmc_ug_pub/s5200-on-series-bmc-user-guide-march-2019?guid=guid-5b8de7b7-879f-45a4-88e0-732155904029&lang=en-us
Wed Apr 22 05:16:05 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @VTeagueAus: 4/4: This also indicates the false dichotomy of govt-vs-corporate privacy invasion. A government system can hand a great q…
Wed Apr 22 08:23:47 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @WydD: As promised, here is the story of my first dive into a Capcom custom chip on the #CPS2
You will discover how integrated circuits…
Wed Apr 22 09:11:43 +0000 2020 (#)
NAND game: easy mode is achieving the right logic; hard mode is achieving it with the fewest NAND gates used. You can proceed to next level with either solution.
(It also tells you if you have fewest components but not fewest NAND gates.)
http://nandgame.com
Wed Apr 22 09:14:30 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
I needed a reminder hint to get fewest NAND gate XOR: I remembered there was a trick to use 4 NAND gates, but not the details of what it is. So far the rest I’ve figured out/remembered the optimal solution, at least on the second attempt 😃
Thu Apr 23 01:45:18 +0000 2020 (#)
“Cascade is a [...] just-in-time compiler for Verilog.” Ie emulate in software and JIT to hardware in the background.
From VMware Research. Seems to be a couple of years old, supports a few FPGA boards.
(Hat tip to .@whitequark on #nmigen IRC.) https://github.com/vmware/cascade
Thu Apr 23 03:15:23 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
By experimentation the S5248F BMC IPMI seems to have administrator privileged users built in with empty username/password, and admin/admin. By default it claims one of those users is enabled, but I’m not sure which.
This... doesn’t seem like a great set of defaults TBH 😕
Thu Apr 23 03:21:33 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
FTR the Dell S5248F BMC IPMI lan interface at least defaults to sharing the same physical port as the out of band management path to the main supervisor CPU (ie mgmt1/1/1).
We found it because of the BMC sending unexpected DHCP requests, out that port, from the Eth1/1/1:1 MAC 😕
Thu Apr 23 04:54:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Dear Microsoft Teams Developers,
Calendar VEVENT invites where all the details to join the Teams meeting are buried in X-MICROSOFT extension headers are not very portable.
And it’s really not much fun to decode your custom headers by hand.
No love, A macOS user
Thu Apr 23 04:57:58 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
In related news, I have a horrible shell pipeline script called ical2teams which RFC822 glues the X-MICROSOFT-SKYPETEAMSMEETINGURL header back together and urldecodes it. Which looks like it might work next time.
You could just put the URL in the LOCATION field... Just Saying!
Thu Apr 23 05:31:56 +0000 2020 (#)
Łukasz Langa: AsyncIO + Music
Talking about using Python and Modular Synthesisers together. 90 minutes.
Seems like my kind of talk :-) (I’m watching it now.)
#PyCon2020 #PyConline https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=02CLD-42VdI
Thu Apr 23 05:32:37 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: Exactly. Guys worry that if they interact in any way with young women, with flamboyant or attractive women- even roll-o…
Thu Apr 23 07:01:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Really interesting talk if you like real time / async / music / synths / MIDI.
I think most of the code shown is at https://github.com/ambv/aiotone.
Thanks @llanga! Great talk :-) https://mobile.twitter.com/llanga/status/1252997353885351942 #PyCon2020 #PyConline https://twitter.com/ewenmcneill/status/1253194877984112643
Thu Apr 23 22:50:13 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @catherinedevlin: Today my team coined the term "Lassie errors": when an error message is basically just "Arf! Arf!" and you're left ask…
Fri Apr 24 04:34:44 +0000 2020 (#)
Looks like there are now Vodafone Bill Payment phishing attempts, sent out via sendgrid (which “conveniently” obscures all the URLs).
Fake because: wrong from/to address, dates do not match (one is last year!), account number wrong, implausible total, no bare URL in real email.
Fri Apr 24 09:03:36 +0000 2020 (#)
“Land of the Rising Sound | A Roland Retrospective” (72 minutes, from April 2019)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JcbpRMZIQ8g
Fri Apr 24 23:04:30 +0000 2020 (#)
“Electromotive - The Story of ARP Instruments” about Alan R Pearlman and the synthesisers developed/inspired by his company. (111 minutes, April 2020)
Fantastic documentary; there’s a video time index in the YouTube description. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l31RXiVSI9s https://alanrpearlmanfoundation.org
Fri Apr 24 23:09:27 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Also “The ARP 2600: The Story of a Legendary Synthesizer | Reverb Feature” a half hour documentary about one of the ARP synthesisers from the 1960s, and its context. (Documentary from early 2020; some historical photos/footage in common with above video.) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CaiMjwF0a64
Fri Apr 24 23:20:47 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @mrbarnabyb: Even if the NZ covid strategy turns out in retrospect to have been harder than it needed to be (which is still a big if), i…
Fri Apr 24 23:36:36 +0000 2020 (#)
It looks like Rippl is a NZ based QR code store check in/contact tracing system, similar to what has been used successfully in China recently (relies on staff “verification of successful check in” to ensure everyone checks in, which is what they do in China). #Covid19 https://twitter.com/robholmesnz/status/1253823702141071360
Fri Apr 24 23:40:49 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
The website is pretty light on the detail of the “without compromising the privacy of their customers” part of the design at present. Even if mobile scans of QR codes are anonymous, deanonymisation by patterns is commonly done.
So promising idea, but I’d like to see more detail.
Fri Apr 24 23:52:07 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @robholmesnz
Thanks for the detail. “Not leaving the phone unless choosing to share it” is a good design. It’d be great to see that more prominently on the webpage about it!
Checking again I see it’s there, but buried at the end of a paragraph that looks like a typical “it’s secure, honest”.
Fri Apr 24 23:52:16 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @robholmesnz: @ewenmcneill Hi Ewen - The check in data (timestamp and venue) doesn't leave the phone unless the user chooses to share it…
Fri Apr 24 23:54:42 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @robholmesnz
FWIW, I’d suggest “the data never leaves your phone unless you choose to share it” should be in bold and try first sentence of the “for consumer” section.
Especially since most QR checks are marketing database driven; emphasize what is different here, up front.
Fri Apr 24 23:56:59 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @robholmesnz
And to be honest when I see “completely private” as the lead sentence, I’m already thinking “unreadably long privacy policy that hopes you don’t notice the loopholes”.
By all means say “designed to be completely private” there, but show me why first 😃
Sat Apr 25 01:42:54 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 31 (ANZAC day): lots of poppy themed window displays. And several flags (for those overseas, NZers rarely fly flags/display flags).
Sat Apr 25 01:51:23 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 31 (ANZAC day): more displays.
Sun Apr 26 04:32:42 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown Day 32: it’s still very pretty outside 💚
Sun Apr 26 04:35:35 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ Lockdown day 32: widescreen views :-)
Sun Apr 26 05:00:44 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @juulcat: Fractal landscape - Mandelbrot as a height map in #Avoyd
#voxelart #voxel #procgen #fractal
Sun Apr 26 05:07:40 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @IanColdwater: I work in tech https://twitter.com/abbygov/status/1253793655854231553
Sun Apr 26 09:44:34 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @pjf: Also apps on Android must ask for location permission to use Bluetooth. Bluetooth beacons with known locations exist, and your l…
Sun Apr 26 22:41:57 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @nsiivola: @Symbo1ics We should have a big-Oh like notation for degree of parallelism. Eg. map would be P(1), map associative-reduce wou…
Sun Apr 26 22:42:56 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @robholmesnz: We've made some changes to the Rippl landing page based on feedback from a bunch of people, including the Ministry of Heal…
Mon Apr 27 04:04:16 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @__fincham
Most hardware requires a blood sacrifice before it works properly... and I guess it makes sense to get that out of the way early on 😂
(Ouch!)
Mon Apr 27 04:10:27 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @VTeagueAus: New blog post with best-effort analysis of decompiled Covid Safe App. https://github.com/vteague/contactTracing
Joint work with @chrisculnan…
Mon Apr 27 09:10:41 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
It looks like I finally fixed Adobe Creative Cloud by some combination of deleting the usual state folders (eg OOBE, SLCache, SLStore, SLStore_v1) and all Adobe processes and removing Keychain notes for Adobe, especially “Adobe App Prefetched Info”. Then launching Photoshop.
Mon Apr 27 09:12:35 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
My current guess is maybe something got corrupted in Adobe App Prefetched Info which caused it to uselessly fail to log in, and removing it forced a new copy to be downloaded. Possibly related to battery drain rather than serial number going missing.
Mon Apr 27 09:14:46 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
For anyone else finding this: it seemed to work better to run an Adobe Creative Cloud application (eg Photoshop), rather than the Adobe Creative Cloud app itself. Photoshop at least gave a user/password login and tried to log in. (Once Photoshop worked then Cloud app worked.)
Mon Apr 27 09:26:59 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Ironically the Adobe Creative Cloud updater forgot I had Photoshop installed as part of this getting unstuck. So I had to install Photoshop again (but it was recognised as part of my plan, and needed updating anyway so 🤷♂️).
Anyway hopefully all usable again.
Mon Apr 27 21:38:59 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @bunniestudios: If you have a bag of commuter/travel gadgets, now would be a good time to check the condition of their batteries. Those…
Mon Apr 27 21:41:16 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @apollo_50th: "By the year 2000 or 2100, people will look back on the 1970s and find it incredible that cancellation of the space progra…
Mon Apr 27 23:04:29 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @pjf: It's pretty clear Australia's health minister doesn't understand open source, or why for privacy it's important to release the sou…
Mon Apr 27 23:07:16 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @merxplat
Is it still free parking in the CBD? Did someone take “free” parking a bit too literally?!
(Glad to hear Lambton Quay is still there, and starting to have essentials available again :-) )
Tue Apr 28 01:31:13 +0000 2020 (#)
Interestingly Vodafone themselves seem to have broken reverse DNS (SERVFAIL, no response) on the outgoing MTAs they’re using for genuine bill emails, resulting in those being spam trapped.
The fake Vodafone bill notifications are better delivered than the genuine ones 🤦🏻♂️ https://twitter.com/ewenmcneill/status/1253542869471604736
Tue Apr 28 02:00:51 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Oh dear, both the DNS delegations for the reverse IPs (ns{1,2}.digdev .net) are unreachable, for DNS or ping. Looks like they have the IPs directly from APNIC.
Reverse DNS definitely used to work, as recently as a month ago...
(This month I had to whitelist the IP to get mail.)
Tue Apr 28 02:31:48 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
The digdev domain is behind DNS privacy, but the tech contact for the IPs is at http://splice.net.nz which appears to be owned by the same person. The website for that seems to be unreachable by the CloudFlare front end.
I’m guessing there’s a bigger issue.
Tue Apr 28 02:36:50 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
Interestingly the physical address in both the digdev APNIC tech contact for the IPs and the contact domain seems to be someone’s house, in Auckland.
I’m unclear why that’s Vodafone’s outbound relay for billing. But it’s been like that for ages from my mail history.
Tue Apr 28 02:46:06 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
The name in the IP reverse DNS (before) and EHLO (before/now), http://iqhive.com, also has DNS Privacy (sigh). But the website does at least load, with a cycling pattern of: IQ Hive, Back Soon, Really Soon, Stay Tuned.
Mail retries were since 2020-04–24, so it’s been days.
Tue Apr 28 02:51:19 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
FTR I’m sure this is genuine email from Vodafone billing because from/to are correct, email format/headers are the same as previous months, account details in PDF are correct, balance is the expected one, right date, etc.
Just weird delivery path, and odd DNS, etc, breakage.
Tue Apr 28 03:58:14 +0000 2020 (#)
Run CP/M 2.2 programs with emulated host file system access! Apparently still being developed. Potentially useful to me to extract CP/M specific archives/compressed files.
(Via GitHub “explore repositories” suggestion!) https://github.com/MockbaTheBorg/RunCPM
Tue Apr 28 04:06:01 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @RealSexyCyborg: I've been more effective changing minds here than I ever have at changing minds anyplace else. Who else is doing what I…
Tue Apr 28 21:05:21 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @glowascii: brilliant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkkJuEHgdpM
Tue Apr 28 23:30:40 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Level 3 day 2: lots of cars in town and people around compared with last week. The post office is still a bit surreal. And still has Covid19 level 1 signs up among all the rest 😃
Wed Apr 29 00:00:44 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @merxplat: I actually gave a talk about writing for software developers at DjangoCon back in 2018 - https://2018.pycon-au.org/talks/41002-writing-to-be-understood/
If you're…
Wed Apr 29 01:23:00 +0000 2020 (#)
#Covid19 NZ Level 3 day 2: grocery shopping still seems to be improving: short queues, moving quickly, better selection, fewer gaps.
The city seems about 20x busier than last week, although clearly lots still closed.
Wed Apr 29 01:28:23 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @ewenmcneill
#Covid19 NZ Level 3 day 2: the ephemera of the lockdown still exists, but lots of places are getting ready to open, if not already opening for takeaway service, so it’s disappearing.
If you still planned to photograph any ephemera, this week is the week. Just saying.
Wed Apr 29 01:50:01 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @fchollet: When you read a paper that explains something in a convoluted and cryptic way, and you struggle to follow... you can be certa…
Wed Apr 29 03:39:37 +0000 2020 (#)
“Hypercentric optics: A camera lens that can see behind objects” from Applied Science.
Optics are magical y’all! It really does matter where your aperture is relative to the front lens and the focal plane. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ4yL6kaV1A
Thu Apr 30 01:10:59 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @FiloSottile: Magic Wormhole over WebRTC! ✨
Easily and securely send files directly browser to browser.
Built with Go, Wasm, CPace, an…
Thu Apr 30 01:34:54 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @samaracello: It was only a matter of time before I did one of these #sorrynotsorry
Thu Apr 30 05:36:52 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @anp: imo "open source" is less important than "socially open project", and specific open/free/etc licensing questions totally miss…
Thu Apr 30 05:45:38 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon and @pjf
That’s weird! It even displays full screen correctly, then changes.
My best guess is that there’s a corruption in one of the JPEG file fine detail/colourspace blocks, which is only being processed late in the full resolution rendering.
Thu Apr 30 05:49:12 +0000 2020 (#)
Replying to @minxdragon
Related: I trust you know there’s an infosec sub genre of bit flipping image, etc file formats. Sometimes for security impacts, sometimes for “look how much I can corrupt it and it still renders”.
And related, of embedding one file type in another, so really multiple file types!
Thu Apr 30 05:50:13 +0000 2020 (#)
RT @bendechrai: "With your #privacy protected by law..." -- #covidsafe ad on the radio.
Remember folks: the law doesn't protect your priva…