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Quorten Blog 1

First blog for all Quorten's blog-like writings

Interesting article on "home-cooked app"

quorten

2020-02-16

Categories: twitter   tour-de-force  
Tags: twitter   tour-de-force  

Now, this is an interesting article reflecting on the use of software development similar to home cooking. The specific use in this case was to create a social media photo/video chat application for family members of the developer’s family to use. The motivation? They had an existing app Tapstack that they’ve used for quite a while, but Tapstack was not announcing updates or even asking long-term users to pay for the app, it was all zero-cost use without a means for donations.

Over the course of 2019, I felt a rising dread as the months ticked by and the app didn’t receive a single update. (That’s a new 21st-century feeling.) Sure enough, in the fall, Tapstack announced that it was shutting down. It offered its users a way to export their data. It went gracefully.

So, naturally, this family that really liked the app needed a replacement. They decided to go down their own app development path rather than using a different commercial app that would be plastered with ads, pushing updates and changes they may not like, and carrying the risk of shutting down.

20200215/https://www.robinsloan.com/notes/home-cooked-app/

Then the author goes on to reflect on all kinds of reasons for home-cooking, some of which are impractical in a wholistic sense but done for emotional reasons and the like.

Read on →

Getting into car maintenance, electronics tinkerer perspective

quorten

2020-02-15

Categories: motor-vehicle  
Tags: motor-vehicle  

Now, this is interesting. Here is an article on Hackaday about getting into cars, basic maintenance. Of course, being this is on Hackaday, it is of course more suited to the perspective of electronics tinkers, and that is why it’s interesting. You mean, cars are still modern technology? Yes… under some certain circumstances.

20200214/https://hackaday.com/2020/02/12/how-to-get-into-cars-basic-maintenance/

One thing that I would like to point out is that for many in tech, conversion to a work-from-home job is a point of pain where they need to have better chops on vehicle maintenance, so why not use that as an opportunity.

And, this is an interesting story about serious engine problems that happened due to an oil pressure shortage. Do not let that oil pressure run too low or let too much bad oil build up in your engine.

20200215/https://hackaday.com/2017/01/30/fixing-my-4x4-the-battle-of-the-bent-valves/

More info on crimping Molex connectors

quorten

2020-02-15

Categories: raspberry-pi   important  
Tags: raspberry-pi   important  

Sure, I’ve previously noted information on how to crimp Molex connectors, but now I’m looking for a really nice guide. And I think I’ve found one. Not only that, but it also contains some interesting information on pinball machines. So that’s why the pinball machine I saw at one location disappeared a few years later? Yes, indeed it did break down, and the owner didn’t want to repair it, so they got rid of it and replaced it with an electronic arcade machine.

One thing to note about Molex connectors. They have a limited cycle life of around 25 insertion cycles. Why? Primarily, it is the plating that gets damaged from insertions, not the gripping force. Once the plating gets damaged, corrosion can advance and render the connection unusable. This is why gold plated connectors have a longer insertion cycle life up to 100 cycles, because the plating is more durable to the forces and stresses imparted on it. Namely, it can bend and flex better without breaking.

20200214/DuckDuckGo how to crimp molex connector
20200214/http://www.pinrepair.com/connect/
20200214/https://hackaday.com/2015/04/07/how-to-properly-crimp-electronics-connectors/

Important! What is the difference between crimping and insulation displacement? Crimping requires that you strip the wires first. Insulation displacement does not, since the connector with cut through the insulation to make contact with the wires.

The Gates Foundation does **not** last forever

quorten

2020-02-15

Categories: random   personal-finance  
Tags: random   personal-finance  

The Gates Foundation. Yeah, that place where Bill Gates is spending all his time and money nowadays. What is it all about? Well, the Wikipedia article covers a whole lot about it. I have to say… I’m actually not all that impressed by what they are doing. Yeah, they are doing some things. But the thing about Bill Gates pulling out of his professional software career entirely? That doesn’t seem to have really been a good choice. Yeah, I’ve heard others say things would be better off if he kept going, and at this point in time, I have to agree myself. Nevertheless, when people get up to his age, many of them retire around that point.

But, now this is the most surprising thing of all. The Gates Foundation is not meant to last forever. Actually, many of the agreements tie the lifespan of the foundation to the lifespan of the founders and the major donors. When they die, so does the Gates Foundation die. Why am I so shocked at this? It’s shocking because for quite while, I thought the Gates Foundation was not merely a way for Bill Gates to donate ot charitable causes, but also a means to protect his assets. Yeah, I mean sure, put most of your asset value and net worth in the Gates Foundation, and it is protected there because your foundation’s causes are getting in good with the liberals who will let their guard down and not tax you so heavily, right? Yeah, indeed, that is correct. But if you suddenly banish your asset value from the foundation after your death, those assets are not being protected by anyone anymore. They just run the very high risk of become gone, forever, likely having been spent in an imprudent manner to empty them away as quickly as possible.

20200214/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_foundation

Puppet Apache log configuration

quorten

2020-02-13

Categories: misc  
Tags: misc  

How do you custom configure Apache logging in Puppet? Now, this may be obvious to longtime Puppet masters, but part of the hurdle is mastering the Puppet documentation. First of all, once you navigate to the page that containts documentation on the Puppet Apache class, you must click on the Reference tab to get the full documentation on the module.

20200213/DuckDuckGo apache puppet
20200213/https://forge.puppet.com/puppetlabs/apache
20200213/https://forge.puppet.com/puppetlabs/apache/reference

Then, you must also know a thing or two about how to do Apache logging configuration directly, of course. Please note that not all possible Apache logging configuration is accessible from Puppet. In particular, if you want to write out a “custom log,” pretty much your only choice in Puppet is to change how the access log is written.

20200213/DuckDuckGo puppet apache CustomLog
20200213/https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_log_config.html

Mac threats on the rise? And Jamf software advertisement.

quorten

2020-02-12

Categories: security   random-software  
Tags: security   random-software  

Wow, this is interesting. Reports that Mac threats now exceed Windows threats… but only in a specific category of software, adware. Traditional viruses are still more prevalent on Windows.

And here is an advertisement for Jarmf’s Mac protection software in light of this article.

20200212/https://www.jamf.com/blog/how-to-combat-rising-macos-threads/
20200212/https://www.jamf.com/resources/product-documentation/jamf-protect-overview/

Low-code and no-code programming

quorten

2020-02-12

Categories: random-software  
Tags: random-software  

Low code programming expected to be on the rise? What is that? Oh, basically, it is like programming by clicking together GUI block diagrams. Yeah, it’s not the most powerful form of programming, but apparently it is becoming very popular in the business world where skilled software developers are hard to find.

And, there’s even “no code” development that boasts to be even easier to use than low-code. It’s the kind of term that just makes you want to think, “How do you program without code?”

20200212/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-code_development_platform
20200212/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-code_development_platform

"Oh, you 3D printed the save icon" meme

quorten

2020-02-11

Categories: computer-history   3d-scanning   3d-scanner   3d-printing  
Tags: computer-history   3d-scanning   3d-scanner   3d-printing  

Interesting meme going around. I showed this floppy disk to a youngster and they said “Oh, you 3D printed the save icon?” At first sight that I saw it, I thought it was a LinkedIn post from Bill Gates. Nope, it’s Bill Gross. You should have known… that Bill Gates is pretty pulled out of tech nowadays.

20200211/DuckDuckGo oh you 3d printed the save icon
20200211/https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/24/16505912/floppy-disk-3d-print-save-joke-meme

This is an interesting article about how Ikea is using 3D printing in furniture to make it more accessible.

20200211/https://www.engadget.com/2019/03/17/ikea-makes-furniture-more-accessible-with-3d-printing/

Database of all public Internet photos, and storing all the words ever spoken

quorten

2020-02-11

Categories: misc   twitter  
Tags: misc   twitter  

Interesting article about a company that has built a data warehouse of photos to identify anyone who has been posted their photos publicly to the Internet. It can then identify almost anyone, even by photos of people decades ago. The largest user has been police departments in identifying criminals. The usability of this as legal evidence in court as been questions, and also questions of privacy issues have been raised.

20200211/https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/02/10/tech/clearview-ai-ceo-hoan-ton-that/index.html

My response? I think it’s great that they’re continuing to pursue the technology in spite of obstacles. We really do need to move forward to a future where the common person is just as recognizable as the most ambitious, we just need to find a good area of practice.

This is an interesting article about how every word ever spoken could easily be stored using today’s digital storage media, without compression. In the past, significant compression would have been required to attain that number.

20200211/https://blog.jonlu.ca/posts/word-storage