Whenever you work in a local environment, you have to deal with a variety of problems. From setting fixed DHCP leases to creating special name server entries. Sometimes it is helpful to have a reflecting name server. Read More →
Say you built a small server – to play your audios or videos – and you want to easily and securely access it in your local network It works great and you consider making a product out of it. Well – here’s the thing – there is no universal, convenient way for users to safely connect to your server – even in their local network. Let’s have a look at the situation, backgrounds and possible workarounds. Read More →
.. I stumbled upon a blog post that explained 11 reasons why Linux sucks. John Morris, the author of that post, outed himself as a Linux lover – and so am I – for more than 20 years. But enough is enough. The Linux of today is unbearable.
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After having been working with voice controlled or .. voice activated “smart” environments for a while, here’s my take: This could get really great if .. and that’s a big if .. we find a common protocol that enables flexibility, compatibility and true interactions. Read More →
Some folks actually have a weird attitude towards PHP. I understand that it isn’t a “pure” language. It’s not truly “objective”. It’s inconsistent. Too many functions. Whatever. For me it’s still the Swiss Army Knife of programming languages (after “C” of course). Read More →
So – you got this Amazon Alexa device at Cyber-Monday? And maybe a connected “smart” plug or light bulb? Before you start adding more “smart” stuff – here’s what you need to know. Read More →
Yep – those little ESP chips are cute. And powerful. And easy to program. And much more. But if you are going to control more than – say a closet light – you want to think about security. This requires hashes and tracking of the current time.
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Sometimes we have to send short command sequences and/or replies over unprotected networks. Especially when working with IoT environments. Though SSL/TLS is always preferred – sometimes it’s just too much overkill. Read More →
Cheap IoT devices like power plugs are mostly manufactured in China. They connect to “bridging” servers we don’t really have control over, they are usually not documented and those required “bridging” services may fail or even be terminated at any time. Which would of course render your (or my) “smart” power plugs useless. Time to do something about it. Read More →
I remember my first “ping” to prep.ai.mit.edu. This must have been around 1993 . I worked with networks before that time, hacking X.25 networks and using embedded “out dials” to reach phone line connected BBS systems around the word. All my life has revolved around the “net”. So – I know a thing or two about the Internet. Let me make something very clear: We lost net neutrality years ago. Read More →