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 →
Plenty of services use a standard email-address as login token. This has advantages: The user doesn’t need to remember another keyword and the service provider knows that the email address is unique and can be verified. But there’s one BIG problem: Other people know your email-address and – with it – 50% of your login credentials. How to to eat the cake AND eat it? Read More →
MPD is a cool server that is able to play DSD files for a while now. But it’s a bit of overkill for those of us who don’t want a complex sound server just to send a DSD /DSF files to an USB DAC. Here’s how you can play those files with ffmpeg and some glue 🙂 Read More →
The Raspberry PI is a cute little machine. It’s easy to do a lot of useful things with it. And it’s easier than you might think. Read More →
Javascript is growing strong. It’s the universal language for online development. It allows anything – from file access to content modification, even video- and audio chats are now scriptable. But what about security? A new mechanism guarantees safe script even on corrupted servers. Read More →
We all have our networks and usually, everything works just fine. But: What if your cable or DSL goes down? You could simply continue to use the net on your mobile device, or connect your mobile device to one of your computers. But – if you have a Linux laptop, you can also use your Android smart phone to provide connectivity to all of your systems. Read More →
Rückblickend betrachtet hätte ich es ja wissen können. Aber als die Konsole die ersten “Read-Errors” meldeten, war das berühmte Kind bereits in den Brunnen gefallen. Die Festplatte war tot – und das letzte Backup 3 Jahre alt. Read More →