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rough idling

Computers are kind of fast these days, which means a lot of little inefficiencies vanish from sight. In theory an idle system with nothing to do should be doing nothing, but frequently enough it turns out to be doing nothing. A couple examples.

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Posted 21 Sep 2015 16:48 by tedu Updated: 18 Nov 2019 21:41
Tagged: openbsd programming software

cheap earbuds

I consume earbuds at a fairly constant rate. They get lost, or washed, or fall apart. And then I need new ones. Unlike the collection of large headphones, or “cans” if you will, that I’ve accumulated over the course of ten years without casualty, earbuds are practically disposable. So I don’t like paying a lot of money for them. Nevertheless, I want a product with some level of quality.

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Posted 19 Sep 2015 22:03 by tedu Updated: 24 Aug 2016 01:17
Tagged: gadget review

caring less

Regarding I Could Care Less. My theory has always been that at some point, long ago, the phrase was “Like I could care less.” You still hear this variant today. It means the same thing of course, that one could not care less, but the word like makes it clear. Over time, the phrase gets used and repeated and some of the sarcastic intonation drops out, but people still know what the words, in this particular formation, mean. Then the leading word gets lost.

Just pretend it’s really a single word, couldcareless, meaning apathetic. We already pretend that awful means something other than awe full.

Posted 16 Sep 2015 16:15 by tedu Updated: 16 Sep 2015 16:15
Tagged: language

reproducible builds are a waste of time

Sort of. Maybe. It depends.

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Posted 08 Sep 2015 17:55 by tedu Updated: 06 Aug 2020 01:14
Tagged: rants security software thoughts

the best sandwiches in town

Everybody knows the best sandwiches in town are made by your local neighborhood deli.

deli is not Delhi

Or, apparently, Delhi. Good work Apple.

Posted 07 Sep 2015 03:40 by tedu Updated: 07 Sep 2015 03:40
Tagged: bugs

the peculiar libretunnel situation

The author of stunnel has (once, twice) asserted that stunnel may not be used with LibreSSL, only with OpenSSL. This is perhaps a strange thing for free software to do, and it creates the potential for some very weird consequences.

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Posted 01 Sep 2015 04:29 by tedu Updated: 01 Sep 2015 04:29
Tagged: politics software

OpenBSD on EdgeRouter Lite

Having burned out both the original flash drive and its replacement, I can’t recommend using an ERL in a serious setting.

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Posted 18 Aug 2015 12:03 by tedu Updated: 28 Nov 2018 23:13
Tagged: computers gadget openbsd

a prettier web, not a thicker one

There’s been a lot of fuss recently about the state of the web. quirksmode got the party started by telling us to stop pushing the web forward . Enough, enough, there’s too much! From the other direction, The Verge points out it’s really only too much because Microsoft refuses to release IE for iPhone. Whatever. For the morbidly curious, two fairly long recaps are Stop blaming the web. Stop breaking the web. and What’s wrong with the web?

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Posted 13 Aug 2015 17:05 by tedu Updated: 13 Aug 2015 17:05
Tagged: software thoughts web

refined spam typography

From a random spam:

font-family: Cambria, "Hoefler Text", "Liberation Serif", Times, "Times New Roman", serif;

So we’ve got Windows, Mac, and... Linux? Well, some Linux. No love for DejaVu fonts I guess.

Posted 10 Aug 2015 00:33 by tedu Updated: 10 Aug 2015 00:33
Tagged: mailfail

on the detection of quantum insert

The NSA has a secret project that can redirect web browsers to sites containing more sophisticated exploits called QUANTUM INSERT. (Do I still need to say allegedly?) It works by injecting packets into the TCP stream, though overwriting the stream may be a more accurate description. Refer to Deep dive into QUANTUM INSERT for more details. At the end of that post, there’s links to some code that can help one detect QI attacks in the wild. As noted by Wired and Bruce Schneier, among dozens of others, now we can defend ourselves against this attack (well, at least detect it).

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Posted 06 Aug 2015 02:24 by tedu Updated: 06 Aug 2015 02:24
Tagged: project security software web