X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/35bcc4f0426043d390b78cd27c2f0959ad39c3ca..a8af0c8c20892a59d5ef8682dde4127e381b874a:/blog/index.rss diff --git a/blog/index.rss b/blog/index.rss index 8c9945defa..085c7f3828 100644 --- a/blog/index.rss +++ b/blog/index.rss @@ -7,204 +7,209 @@ - Self-appointed leaders of the Free World - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Self_appointed_leaders_of_the_Free_World.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Self_appointed_leaders_of_the_Free_World.html - Thu, 22 Mar 2018 11:00:00 +0100 - <p>The leaders of the worlds have started to congratulate the -re-elected Russian head of state, and this causes some criticism. I -am though a little fascinated by a comment from USA senator John McCain, -<a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/379339-mccain-rips-trumps-congratulatory-call-to-putin-as-insult-to-russian-people">sited -by The Hill and others</a>: - -<p><blockquote> -<p>"An American president does not lead the Free World by -congratulating dictators on winning sham elections."</p> -</blockquote></p> - -<p>While I totally agree with the senator here, the way the quote is -phrased make me suspect that he is unaware of the simple fact that USA -have not lead the Free World since at least before its government -<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Arar">kidnapped a -completely innocent Canadian citizen in transit on his way home to -Canada via John F. Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 and -sent him to be tortured in Syria for a year</a>.</p> + CasparCG Server for TV broadcast playout in Debian + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/CasparCG_Server_for_TV_broadcast_playout_in_Debian.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/CasparCG_Server_for_TV_broadcast_playout_in_Debian.html + Tue, 15 Jan 2019 00:10:00 +0100 + <p>The layered video playout server created by Sveriges Television, +<a href="https://casparcg.com/">CasparCG Server</a>, entered Debian +today. This completes many months of work to get the source ready to +go into Debian. The first upload to the Debian NEW queue happened a +month ago, but the work upstream to prepare it for Debian started more +than two and a half month ago. So far +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/casparcg-server">the +casparcg-server package</a> is only available for amd64, but I hope +this can be improved. The package is in contrib because it depend on +the <a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/fdk-aac">non-free fdk-aac +library</a>. The Debian package lack support for streaming web pages +because Debian is missing CEF, Chromium Embedded Framework. CEF is +wanted by several packages in Debian. But because the Chromium source +is <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/893448">not available as a build +dependency</a>, it is not yet possible to upload CEF to Debian. I +hope this will change in the future.</p> + +<p>The reason I got involved is that +<a href="https://frikanalen.no/">the Norwegian open channel +Frikanalen</a> is starting to use CasparCG for our HD playout, and I +would like to have all the free software tools we use to run the TV +channel available as packages from the Debian project. The last +remaining piece in the puzzle is Open Broadcast Encoder, but it depend +on quite a lot of patched libraries which would have to be included in +Debian first.</p> + + + + + Learn to program with Minetest on Debian + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Learn_to_program_with_Minetest_on_Debian.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Learn_to_program_with_Minetest_on_Debian.html + Sat, 15 Dec 2018 15:30:00 +0100 + <p>A fun way to learn how to program +<a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> is to follow the +instructions in the book +"<a href="https://nostarch.com/programwithminecraft">Learn to program +with Minecraft</a>", which introduces programming in Python to people +who like to play with Minecraft. The book uses a Python library to +talk to a TCP/IP socket with an API accepting build instructions and +providing information about the current players in a Minecraft world. +The TCP/IP API was first created for the Minecraft implementation for +Raspberry Pi, and has since been ported to some server versions of +Minecraft. The book contain recipes for those using Windows, MacOSX +and Raspian. But a little known fact is that you can follow the same +recipes using the free software construction game +<a href="https://minetest.net/">Minetest</a>.</p> + +<p>There is <a href="https://github.com/sprintingkiwi/pycraft_mod">a +Minetest module implementing the same API</a>, making it possible to +use the Python programs coded to talk to Minecraft with Minetest too. +I +<a href="https://ftp-master.debian.org/new/minetest-mod-pycraft_0.20%2Bgit20180331.0376a0a%2Bdfsg-1.html">uploaded +this module</a> to Debian two weeks ago, and as soon as it clears the +FTP masters NEW queue, learning to program Python with Minetest on +Debian will be a simple 'apt install' away. The Debian package is +maintained as part of the Debian Games team, and +<a href="https://salsa.debian.org/games-team/unfinished/minetest-mod-pycraft">the +packaging rules</a> are currently located under 'unfinished' on +Salsa.</p> + +<p>You will most likely need to install several of the Minetest +modules in Debian for the examples included with the library to work +well, as there are several blocks used by the example scripts that are +provided via modules in Minetest. Without the required blocks, a +simple stone block is used instead. My initial testing with a analog +clock did not get gold arms as instructed in the python library, but +instead used stone arms.</p> + +<p>I tried to find a way to add the API to the desktop version of +Minecraft, but were unable to find any working recipes. The +<a href="https://www.epiphanydigest.com/tag/minecraft-python-api/">recipes</a> +I <a href="https://github.com/kbsriram/mcpiapi">found</a> are only +working with a standalone Minecraft server setup. Are there any +options to use with the normal desktop version?</p> -<p>USA might be running ahead, but the path they are taking is not the -one taken by any Free World.</p> +<p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> - Facebooks ability to sell your personal information is the real Cambridge Analytica scandal - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Facebooks_ability_to_sell_your_personal_information_is_the_real_Cambridge_Analytica_scandal.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Facebooks_ability_to_sell_your_personal_information_is_the_real_Cambridge_Analytica_scandal.html - Wed, 21 Mar 2018 16:30:00 +0100 - <p>So, Cambridge Analytica is getting some well deserved criticism for -(mis)using information it got from Facebook about 50 million people, -mostly in the USA. What I find a bit surprising, is how little -criticism Facebook is getting for handing the information over to -Cambridge Analytica and others in the first place. And what about the -people handing their private and personal information to Facebook? -And last, but not least, what about the government offices who are -handing information about the visitors of their web pages to Facebook? -No-one who looked at the terms of use of Facebook should be surprised -that information about peoples interests, political views, personal -lifes and whereabouts would be sold by Facebook.</p> - -<p>What I find to be the real scandal is the fact that Facebook is -selling your personal information, not that one of the buyers used it -in a way Facebook did not approve when exposed. It is well known that -Facebook is selling out their users privacy, but a scandal -nevertheless. Of course the information provided to them by Facebook -would be misused by one of the parties given access to personal -information about the millions of Facebook users. Collected -information will be misused sooner or later. The only way to avoid -such misuse, is to not collect the information in the first place. If -you do not want Facebook to hand out information about yourself for -the use and misuse of its customers, do not give Facebook the -information.</p> - -<p>Personally, I would recommend to completely remove your Facebook -account, and take back some control of your personal information. -<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/19/how-to-protect-your-facebook-privacy-or-delete-yourself-completely">According -to The Guardian</a>, it is a bit hard to find out how to request -account removal (and not just 'disabling'). You need to -<a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674?helpref=faq_content">visit -a specific Facebook page</a> and click on 'let us know' on that page -to get to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/help/delete_account">the -real account deletion screen</a>. Perhaps something to consider? I -would not trust the information to really be deleted (who knows, -perhaps NSA, GCHQ and FRA already got a copy), but it might reduce the -exposure a bit.</p> - -<p>If you want to learn more about the capabilities of Cambridge -Analytica, I recommend to see the video recording of the one hour talk -Paul-Olivier Dehaye gave to <a href="">NUUG</a> last april about -<a href="https://www.nuug.no/aktiviteter/20170404-big-data-psychometric/"> -Data collection, psychometric profiling and their impact on -politics</a>.</p> - -<p>And if you want to communicate with your friends and loved ones, -use some end-to-end encrypted method like -<a href="https://www.signal.org/">Signal</a> or -<a href="https://ring.cx/">Ring</a>, and stop sharing your private -messages with strangers like Facebook and Google.</p> + Non-blocking bittorrent plugin for vlc + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Non_blocking_bittorrent_plugin_for_vlc.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Non_blocking_bittorrent_plugin_for_vlc.html + Wed, 12 Dec 2018 07:20:00 +0100 + <p>A few hours ago, a new and improved version (2.4) of +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/vlc-plugin-bittorrent">the VLC +bittorrent plugin</a> was uploaded to Debian. This new version +include a complete rewrite of the bittorrent related code, which seem +to make the plugin non-blocking. This mean you can actually exit VLC +even when the plugin seem to be unable to get the bittorrent streaming +started. The new version also include support for filtering playlist +by file extension using command line options, if you want to avoid +processing audio, video or images. The package is currently in Debian +unstable, but should be available in Debian testing in two days. To +test it, simply install it like this:</p> + +<p><pre> +apt install vlc-plugin-bittorrent +</pre></p> + +<p>After it is installed, you can try to use it to play a file +downloaded live via bittorrent like this: + +<p><pre> +vlc https://archive.org/download/Glass_201703/Glass_201703_archive.torrent +</pre></p> + +<p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> - H, Ap, Frp og Venstre går for DNA-innsamling av hele befolkningen - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/H__Ap__Frp_og_Venstre_g_r_for_DNA_innsamling_av_hele_befolkningen.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/H__Ap__Frp_og_Venstre_g_r_for_DNA_innsamling_av_hele_befolkningen.html - Wed, 14 Mar 2018 14:15:00 +0100 - <p>I går kom det nok et argument for å holde seg unna det norske -helsevesenet. Da annonserte et stortingsflertall, bestående av Høyre, -Arbeiderpartiet, Fremskrittspartiet og Venstre, at de går inn for å -samle inn og lagre DNA-prøver fra hele befolkningen i Norge til evig -tid. Endringen gjelder innsamlede blodprøver fra nyfødte i Norge. -Det vil dermed ta litt tid før en har hele befolkningen, men det er -dit vi havner gitt nok tid. I dag er det nesten hundre prosent -oppslutning om undersøkelsen som gjøres like etter fødselen, på -bakgrunn av blodprøven det er snakk om å lagre, for å oppdage endel -medfødte sykdommer. Blodprøven lagres i dag i inntil seks år. -<a href="https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Innstillinger/Stortinget/2017-2018/inns-201718-182l/?all=true">Stortingets -flertallsinnstilling</a> er at tidsbegrensingen skal fjernes, og mener -at tidsubegrenset lagring ikke vil påvirke oppslutningen om -undersøkelsen.</p> - -<p>Datatilsynet har ikke akkurat applaudert forslaget:</p> + Retten til kontant betaling er en rettighet som må brukes for å beholdes + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Retten_til_kontant_betaling_er_en_rettighet_som_m__brukes_for___beholdes.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Retten_til_kontant_betaling_er_en_rettighet_som_m__brukes_for___beholdes.html + Tue, 11 Dec 2018 10:00:00 +0100 + <p><a href="https://www.fn.no/Om-FN/Avtaler/Menneskerettigheter/FNs-verdenserklaering-om-menneskerettigheter">FNs +menneskerettighetserklæring</a> artikkel 13 første punkt lyder som +følger:</p> <p><blockquote> - - <p>«Datatilsynet mener forslaget ikke i tilstrekkelig grad - synliggjør hvilke etiske og personvernmessige utfordringer som må - diskuteres før en etablerer en nasjonal biobank med blodprøver fra - hele befolkningen.»</p> - +Enhver har rett til å bevege seg fritt og til fritt å velge +oppholdssted innenfor en stats grenser. </blockquote></p> -<p>Det er flere historier om hvordan innsamlet biologisk materiale har -blitt brukt til andre formål enn de ble innsamlet til, og historien om -<a href="https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/Ql0WR/Na-ma-Folkehelsa-slette-uskyldiges-DNA-info">folkehelseinstituttets -lagring på vegne av politiet (Kripos) av innsamlet biologisk materiale -og DNA-informasjon i strid med loven</a> viser at en ikke kan være -trygg på at lover og intensjoner beskytter de som blir berørt mot -misbruk av slik privat og personlig informasjon.</p> - -<p>Det er verdt å merke seg at det kan forskes på de innsamlede -blodprøvene uten samtykke fra den det gjelder (eller foreldre når det -gjelder barn), etter en lovendring for en stund tilbake, med mindre -det er sendt inn skjema der en reserverer seg mot forskning uten -samtykke. Skjemaet er tilgjengelig fra -<a href="https://www.fhi.no/arkiv/publikasjoner/for-pasienter-skjema-for-reservasjo/">folkehelseinstituttets -websider</a>, og jeg anbefaler, uavhengig av denne saken, varmt alle å -sende inn skjemaet for å dokumentere hvor mange som ikke synes det er -greit å fjerne krav om samtykke.</p> - -<p>I tillegg bør en kreve destruering av alt biologisk materiale som -er samlet inn om en selv, for å redusere eventuelle negative -konsekvenser i fremtiden når materialet kommer på avveie eller blir -brukt uten samtykke, men det er så vidt jeg vet ikke noe system for -dette i dag.</p> +<p>Det er altså en menneskerett å kunne bevege seg fritt i landet. +For å bevege seg fritt i landet, så må en kunne bevege seg uten å bli +sporet. Det vil i dagens samfunn innebære å bevege seg uten å legge +igjen digitale spor og uten å være radiomerket. Hvis en vet at ens +bevegelser, hvor en befinner seg når, og hvem som befinner seg i +nærheten, blir samlet inn og gjort tilgjengelig for fremmede, det være +seg myndighetene eller private organisasjoner, så kan en ikke lenger +bevege seg fritt. Dette gjør at det er en forutsetning for å ha glede +av retten til å bevege seg fritt i landet at en motstår fristelsen til +å legge igjen digitale spor når en betaler for seg. Rettigheter som +ikke blir brukt, blir fjernet. Den eneste måten i dag å unngå å legge +igjen digitale spor når en betaler for seg, er å betale med kontanter, +samt takke nei til å legge igjen navn og adresse (slik f.eks. Elkjøp +ber om &mdash; jeg sier de kan legge inn «anonym anonym» når +datasystemet deres trenger et navn). Personlig anbefaler jeg å +konsekvent bruke kontant betaling når man beveger seg rundt, for å +bidra til forsvaret av menneskerettighetene i Norge. Kanskje noe også +for deg? Merk at det ikke er tilstrekkelig for å unngå sporing å +betale med kontanter, men det er et lite steg i riktig retning.</p> + +<p>Det er flere andre argumenter i tillegg til +menneskerettighetsargumentet for å bruke kontanter. I går hadde +Dagbladet en utmerket kommentar av sin journalist John Olav Egeland om +hvilket +<a href="https://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/kontantlost-diktatur/70543434">kontantløst +diktatur</a> som venter oss hvis mange nok slutter å insistere på å +betale med kontanter. Jeg anbefaler deg å lese den.</p> <p>Som vanlig, hvis du bruker Bitcoin og ønsker å vise din støtte til det jeg driver med, setter jeg pris på om du sender Bitcoin-donasjoner til min adresse -<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> +<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>. +Merk, betaling med bitcoin er ikke anonymt. :)</p> - First rough draft Norwegian and Spanish edition of the book Made with Creative Commons - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_rough_draft_Norwegian_and_Spanish_edition_of_the_book_Made_with_Creative_Commons.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/First_rough_draft_Norwegian_and_Spanish_edition_of_the_book_Made_with_Creative_Commons.html - Tue, 13 Mar 2018 13:00:00 +0100 - <p>I am working on publishing yet another book related to Creative -Commons. This time it is a book filled with interviews and histories -from those around the globe making a living using Creative -Commons.</p> - -<p>Yesterday, after many months of hard work by several volunteer -translators, the first draft of a Norwegian Bokmål edition of the book -<a href="https://madewith.cc">Made with Creative Commons from 2017</a> -was complete. The Spanish translation is also complete, while the -Dutch, Polish, German and Ukraine edition need a lot of work. Get in -touch if you want to help make those happen, or would like to -translate into your mother tongue.</p> - -<p>The whole book project started when -<a href="http://gwolf.org/node/4102">Gunnar Wolf announced</a> that he -was going to make a Spanish edition of the book. I noticed, and -offered some input on how to make a book, based on my experience with -translating the -<a href="https://www.lulu.com/shop/lawrence-lessig/fri-kultur/paperback/product-22441576.html">Free -Culture</a> and -<a href="https://debian-handbook.info/get/#norwegian">The Debian -Administrator's Handbook</a> books to Norwegian Bokmål. To make a -long story short, we ended up working on a Bokmål edition, and now the -first rough translation is complete, thanks to the hard work of -Ole-Erik Yrvin, Ingrid Yrvin, Allan Nordhøy and myself. The first -proof reading is almost done, and only the second and third proof -reading remains. We will also need to translate the 14 figures and -create a book cover. Once it is done we will publish the book on -paper, as well as in PDF, ePub and possibly Mobi formats.</p> - -<p>The book itself originates as a manuscript on Google Docs, is -downloaded as ODT from there and converted to Markdown using pandoc. -The Markdown is modified by a script before is converted to DocBook -using pandoc. The DocBook is modified again using a script before it -is used to create a Gettext POT file for translators. The translated -PO file is then combined with the earlier mentioned DocBook file to -create a translated DocBook file, which finally is given to dblatex to -create the final PDF. The end result is a set of editions of the -manuscript, one English and one for each of the translations.</p> - -<p>The translation is conducted using -<a href="https://hosted.weblate.org/projects/madewithcc/translation/">the -Weblate web based translation system</a>. Please have a look there -and get in touch if you would like to help out with proof -reading. :)</p> + Why is your site not using Content Security Policy / CSP? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_is_your_site_not_using_Content_Security_Policy___CSP_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Why_is_your_site_not_using_Content_Security_Policy___CSP_.html + Sun, 9 Dec 2018 15:00:00 +0100 + <p>Yesterday, I had the pleasure of watching on Frikanalen the OWASP +talk by Scott Helme titled +"<a href="https://frikanalen.no/video/626080/">What We’ve Learned From +Billions of Security Reports</a>". I had not heard of the +<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_Security_Policy">Content +Security Policy standard</a> nor its ability to "call home" when a +browser detect a policy breach (I do not follow web page design +development much these days), and found the talk very illuminating.</p> + +<p>The mechanism allow a web site owner to use HTTP headers to tell +visitors web browser which sources (internal and external) are allowed to +be used on the web site. Thus it become possible to enforce a "only +local content" policy despite web designers urge to fetch programs +from random sites on the Internet, like the one +<a href="https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/68966/hacking/browsealoud-plugin-hack.html">enabling +the attack</a> reported by Scott Helme earlier this year.</p> + +<p>Using CSP seem like an obvious thing for a site admin to implement +to take some control over the information leak that occur when +external sources are used to render web pages, it is a mystery more +sites are not using CSP? It is being +<a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/CSP/">standardized under W3C</a> these +days, and is supposed by most web browsers</p> + +<p>I managed to find <a href="https://github.com/mozilla/django-csp">a +Django middleware for implementing CSP</a> and was happy to discover +it was already in Debian. I plan to use it to add CSP support to the +Frikanalen web site soon.</p> <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address @@ -213,47 +218,39 @@ activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address - Debian used in the subway info screens in Oslo, Norway - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_used_in_the_subway_info_screens_in_Oslo__Norway.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Debian_used_in_the_subway_info_screens_in_Oslo__Norway.html - Fri, 2 Mar 2018 13:10:00 +0100 - <p>Today I was pleasantly surprised to discover my operating system of -choice, Debian, was used in the info screens on the subway stations. -While passing Nydalen subway station in Oslo, Norway, I discovered the -info screen booting with some text scrolling. I was not quick enough -with my camera to be able to record a video of the scrolling boot -screen, but I did get a photo from when the boot got stuck with a -corrupt file system: - -<p align="center"><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2018-03-02-ruter-debian-lenny.jpeg"><img align="center" width="40%" src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2018-03-02-ruter-debian-lenny.jpeg" alt="[photo of subway info screen]"></a></p> - -<p>While I am happy to see Debian used more places, some details of the -content on the screen worries me.</p> - -<p>The image show the version booting is 'Debian GNU/Linux lenny/sid', -indicating that this is based on code taken from Debian Unstable/Sid -after Debian Etch (version 4) was released 2007-04-08 and before -Debian Lenny (version 5) was released 2009-02-14. Since Lenny Debian -has released version 6 (Squeeze) 2011-02-06, 7 (Wheezy) 2013-05-04, 8 -(Jessie) 2015-04-25 and 9 (Stretch) 2017-06-15, according to -<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debian_version_history">a Debian -version history on Wikpedia</a>. This mean the system is running -around 10 year old code, with no security fixes from the vendor for -many years.</p> - -<p>This is not the first time I discover the Oslo subway company, -Ruter, running outdated software. In 2012, -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Er_billettautomatene_til_kollektivtrafikken_i_Oslo_uten_sikkerhetsoppdateringer_.html">I -discovered the ticket vending machines were running Windows 2000</a>, -and this was -<a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fortsatt_ingen_sikkerhetsoppdateringer_for_billettautomatene_til_kollektivtrafikken_i_Oslo_.html">still -the case in 2016</a>. Given the response from the responsible people -in 2016, I would assume the machines are still running unpatched -Windows 2000. Thus, an unpatched Debian setup come as no surprise.</p> - -<p>The photo is made available under the license terms -<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons -4.0 Attribution International (CC BY 4.0)</a>.</p> + New and improved Frikanalen Kodi addon version 0.0.3 + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_and_improved_Frikanalen_Kodi_addon_version_0_0_3.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/New_and_improved_Frikanalen_Kodi_addon_version_0_0_3.html + Thu, 8 Nov 2018 10:30:00 +0100 + <p>If you read my blog regularly, you probably know I am involved in +running and developing the <a href="https://frikanalen.no/">Norwegian +TV channel Frikanalen</a>. It is an open channel, allowing everyone +in Norway to publish videos on a TV channel with national coverage. +You can think of it as Youtube for national television. +In addition to distribution on RiksTV and Uninett, Frikanalen is also +available as a Kodi addon. The last few days I have updated the code +to add more features. A +<a href="https://kodi.tv/addon/plugins-video-add-ons/frikanalen-nett-tv">new +and improved version 0.0.3 Frikanalen addon</a> was just made +available via the Kodi repositories. This new version include a +option to browse videos by category, as well as free text search +in the video archive. It will now also show the video duration in the +video lists, which were missing earlier. A new and experimental +link to the HD video stream currently being worked on is provided, for +those that want to see what the <a href="https://casparcg.com/">CasparCG</a> +output look like. The alternative is the SD video stream, generated +using MLT. CasparCG is controlled by our +<a href="https://github.com/Frikanalen/mltplayout/">mltplayout +server</a> which instead of talking to mlt is giving PLAY instructions +to the CasparCG server when it is time to start a new program.</p> + +<p>By now, you are probably wondering what kind of content is being +played on the channel. These days, it is filled with technical +presentations like those from <a href="https://www.nuug.no/">NUUG</a>, +<a href="https://www.debconf.org/">Debconf</a>, Makercon, and TED, +but there are also some periods with +<a href="https://www.empo.no/">EMPT TV</a> and +<a href="https://www.p7.no/">P7</a>. <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address @@ -262,32 +259,35 @@ activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address - The SysVinit upstream project just migrated to git - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_SysVinit_upstream_project_just_migrated_to_git.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/The_SysVinit_upstream_project_just_migrated_to_git.html - Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:20:00 +0100 - <p>Surprising as it might sound, there are still computers using the -traditional Sys V init system, and there probably will be until -systemd start working on Hurd and FreeBSD. -<a href="https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/sysvinit">The upstream -project still exist</a>, though, and up until today, the upstream -source was available from Savannah via subversion. I am happy to -report that this just changed.</p> - -<p>The upstream source is now in Git, and consist of three -repositories:</p> - -<ul> - -<li><a href="http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/sysvinit.git">sysvinit</a></li> -<li><a href="http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/sysvinit/insserv.git">insserv</a></li> -<li><a href="http://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/sysvinit/startpar.git">startpar</a></li> - -</ul> - -<p>I do not really spend much time on the project these days, and I -has mostly retired, but found it best to migrate the source to a good -version control system to help those willing to move it forward.</p> + Time for an official MIME type for patches? + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_an_official_MIME_type_for_patches_.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Time_for_an_official_MIME_type_for_patches_.html + Thu, 1 Nov 2018 08:15:00 +0100 + <p>As part of my involvement in +<a href="https://gitlab.com/OsloMet-ABI/nikita-noark5-core">the Nikita +archive API project</a>, I've been importing a fairly large lump of +emails into a test instance of the archive to see how well this would +go. I picked a subset of <a href="https://notmuchmail.org/">my +notmuch email database</a>, all public emails sent to me via +@lists.debian.org, giving me a set of around 216 000 emails to import. +In the process, I had a look at the various attachments included in +these emails, to figure out what to do with attachments, and noticed +that one of the most common attachment formats do not have +<a href="https://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/media-types.xhtml">an +official MIME type</a> registered with IANA/IETF. The output from +diff, ie the input for patch, is on the top 10 list of formats +included in these emails. At the moment people seem to use either +text/x-patch or text/x-diff, but neither is officially registered. It +would be better if one official MIME type were registered and used +everywhere.</p> + +<p>To try to get one official MIME type for these files, I've brought +up the topic on +<a href="https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/media-types">the +media-types mailing list</a>. If you are interested in discussion +which MIME type to use as the official for patch files, or involved in +making software using a MIME type for patches, perhaps you would like +to join the discussion?</p> <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address @@ -296,72 +296,72 @@ activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address - Using VLC to stream bittorrent sources - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_VLC_to_stream_bittorrent_sources.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Using_VLC_to_stream_bittorrent_sources.html - Wed, 14 Feb 2018 08:00:00 +0100 - <p>A few days ago, a new major version of -<a href="https://www.videolan.org/">VLC</a> was announced, and I -decided to check out if it now supported streaming over -<a href="http://bittorrent.org/">bittorrent</a> and -<a href="https://webtorrent.io">webtorrent</a>. Bittorrent is one of -the most efficient ways to distribute large files on the Internet, and -Webtorrent is a variant of Bittorrent using -<a href="https://webrtc.org">WebRTC</a> as its transport channel, -allowing web pages to stream and share files using the same technique. -The network protocols are similar but not identical, so a client -supporting one of them can not talk to a client supporting the other. -I was a bit surprised with what I discovered when I started to look. -Looking at -<a href="https://www.videolan.org/vlc/releases/3.0.0.html">the release -notes</a> did not help answering this question, so I started searching -the web. I found several news articles from 2013, most of them -tracing the news from Torrentfreak -("<a href=https://torrentfreak.com/open-source-giant-vlc-mulls-bittorrent-support-130211/">Open -Source Giant VLC Mulls BitTorrent Streaming Support</a>"), about a -initiative to pay someone to create a VLC patch for bittorrent -support. To figure out what happend with this initiative, I headed -over to the #videolan IRC channel and asked if there were some bug or -feature request tickets tracking such feature. I got an answer from -lead developer Jean-Babtiste Kempf, telling me that there was a patch -but neither he nor anyone else knew where it was. So I searched a bit -more, and came across an independent -<a href="https://github.com/johang/vlc-bittorrent">VLC plugin to add -bittorrent support</a>, created by Johan Gunnarsson in 2016/2017. -Again according to Jean-Babtiste, this is not the patch he was talking -about.</p> - -<p>Anyway, to test the plugin, I made a working Debian package from -the git repository, with some modifications. After installing this -package, I could stream videos from -<a href="https://www.archive.org/">The Internet Archive</a> using VLC -commands like this:</p> - -<p><blockquote><pre> -vlc https://archive.org/download/LoveNest/LoveNest_archive.torrent -</pre></blockquote></p> - -<p>The plugin is supposed to handle magnet links too, but since The -Internet Archive do not have magnet links and I did not want to spend -time tracking down another source, I have not tested it. It can take -quite a while before the video start playing without any indication of -what is going on from VLC. It took 10-20 seconds when I measured it. -Some times the plugin seem unable to find the correct video file to -play, and show the metadata XML file name in the VLC status line. I -have no idea why.</p> - -<p>I have created a <a href="https://bugs.debian.org/890360">request for -a new package in Debian (RFP)</a> and -<a href="https://github.com/johang/vlc-bittorrent/issues/1">asked if -the upstream author is willing to help make this happen</a>. Now we -wait to see what come out of this. I do not want to maintain a -package that is not maintained upstream, nor do I really have time to -maintain more packages myself, so I might leave it at this. But I -really hope someone step up to do the packaging, and hope upstream is -still maintaining the source. If you want to help, please update the -RFP request or the upstream issue.</p> - -<p>I have not found any traces of webtorrent support for VLC.</p> + Measuring the speaker frequency response using the AUDMES free software GUI - nice free software + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Measuring_the_speaker_frequency_response_using_the_AUDMES_free_software_GUI___nice_free_software.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Measuring_the_speaker_frequency_response_using_the_AUDMES_free_software_GUI___nice_free_software.html + Mon, 22 Oct 2018 08:40:00 +0200 + <p><img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2018-10-22-audmes-measure-speakers.png" align="right" width="40%"/></p> + +<p>My current home stereo is a patchwork of various pieces I got on +flee markeds over the years. It is amazing what kind of equipment +show up there. I've been wondering for a while if it was possible to +measure how well this equipment is working together, and decided to +see how far I could get using free software. After trawling the web I +came across an article from DIY Audio and Video on +<a href="https://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Tutorial/SpeakerResponseTesting/">Speaker +Testing and Analysis</a> describing how to test speakers, and it listing +several software options, among them +<a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/audmes/">AUDio MEasurement +System (AUDMES)</a>. It is the only free software system I could find +focusing on measuring speakers and audio frequency response. In the +process I also found an interesting article from NOVO on +<a href="http://novo.press/understanding-speaker-specifications-and-frequency-response/">Understanding +Speaker Specifications and Frequency Response</a> and an article from +ecoustics on +<a href="https://www.ecoustics.com/articles/understanding-speaker-frequency-response/">Understanding +Speaker Frequency Response</a>, with a lot of information on what to +look for and how to interpret the graphs. Armed with this knowledge, +I set out to measure the state of my speakers.</p> + +<p>The first hurdle was that AUDMES hadn't seen a commit for 10 years +and did not build with current compilers and libraries. I got in +touch with its author, who no longer was spending time on the program +but gave me write access to the subversion repository on Sourceforge. +The end result is that now the code build on Linux and is capable of +saving and loading the collected frequency response data in CSV +format. The application is quite nice and flexible, and I was able to +select the input and output audio interfaces independently. This made +it possible to use a USB mixer as the input source, while sending +output via my laptop headphone connection. I lacked the hardware and +cabling to figure out a different way to get independent cabling to +speakers and microphone.</p> + +<p>Using this setup I could see how a large range of high frequencies +apparently were not making it out of my speakers. The picture show +the frequency response measurement of one of the speakers. Note the +frequency lines seem to be slightly misaligned, compared to the CSV +output from the program. I can not hear several of these are high +frequencies, according to measurement from +<a href="http://freehearingtestsoftware.com">Free Hearing Test +Software</a>, an freeware system to measure your hearing (still +looking for a free software alternative), so I do not know if they are +coming out out the speakers. I thus do not quite know how to figure +out if the missing frequencies is a problem with the microphone, the +amplifier or the speakers, but I managed to rule out the audio card in my +PC by measuring my Bose noise canceling headset using its own +microphone. This setup was able to see the high frequency tones, so +the problem with my stereo had to be in the amplifier or speakers.</p> + +<p>Anyway, to try to role out one factor I ended up picking up a new +set of speakers at a flee marked, and these work a lot better than the +old speakers, so I guess the microphone and amplifier is OK. If you +need to measure your own speakers, check out AUDMES. If more people +get involved, perhaps the project could become good enough to +<a href="https://bugs.debian.org/910876">include in Debian</a>? And if +you know of some other free software to measure speakers and amplifier +performance, please let me know. I am aware of the freeware option +<a href="https://www.roomeqwizard.com/">REW</a>, but I want something +that can be developed also when the vendor looses interest.</p> <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address @@ -370,25 +370,60 @@ activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address - Version 3.1 of Cura, the 3D print slicer, is now in Debian - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Version_3_1_of_Cura__the_3D_print_slicer__is_now_in_Debian.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Version_3_1_of_Cura__the_3D_print_slicer__is_now_in_Debian.html - Tue, 13 Feb 2018 06:20:00 +0100 - <p>A new version of the -<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/cura">3D printer slicer -software Cura</a>, version 3.1.0, is now available in Debian Testing -(aka Buster) and Debian Unstable (aka Sid). I hope you find it -useful. It was uploaded the last few days, and the last update will -enter testing tomorrow. See the -<a href="https://ultimaker.com/en/products/cura-software/release-notes">release -notes</a> for the list of bug fixes and new features. Version 3.2 -was announced 6 days ago. We will try to get it into Debian as -well.</p> - -<p>More information related to 3D printing is available on the -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/3DPrinting">3D printing</a> and -<a href="https://wiki.debian.org/3D-printer">3D printer</a> wiki pages -in Debian.</p> + Web browser integration of VLC with Bittorrent support + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Web_browser_integration_of_VLC_with_Bittorrent_support.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Web_browser_integration_of_VLC_with_Bittorrent_support.html + Sun, 21 Oct 2018 09:50:00 +0200 + <p>Bittorrent is as far as I know, currently the most efficient way to +distribute content on the Internet. It is used all by all sorts of +content providers, from national TV stations like +<a href="https://www.nrk.no/">NRK</a>, Linux distributors like +<a href="https://www.debian.org/">Debian</a> and +<a href="https://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a>, and of course the +<a href="https://archive.org/">Internet archive</A>. + +<p>Almost a month ago +<a href="https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/vlc-plugin-bittorrent">a new +package adding Bittorrent support to VLC</a> became available in +Debian testing and unstable. To test it, simply install it like +this:</p> + +<p><pre> +apt install vlc-plugin-bittorrent +</pre></p> + +<p>Since the plugin was made available for the first time in Debian, +several improvements have been made to it. In version 2.2-4, now +available in both testing and unstable, a desktop file is provided to +teach browsers to start VLC when the user click on torrent files or +magnet links. The last part is thanks to me finally understanding +what the strange x-scheme-handler style MIME types in desktop files +are used for. By adding x-scheme-handler/magnet to the MimeType entry +in the desktop file, at least the browsers Firefox and Chromium will +suggest to start VLC when selecting a magnet URI on a web page. The +end result is that now, with the plugin installed in Buster and Sid, +one can visit any +<a href="https://archive.org/details/CopyingIsNotTheft1080p">Internet +Archive page with movies</a> using a web browser and click on the +torrent link to start streaming the movie.</p> + +<p>Note, there is still some misfeatures in the plugin. One is the +fact that it will hang and +<a href="https://github.com/johang/vlc-bittorrent/issues/13">block VLC +from exiting until the torrent streaming starts</a>. Another is the +fact that it +<a href="https://github.com/johang/vlc-bittorrent/issues/9">will pick +and play a random file in a multi file torrent</a>. This is not +always the video file you want. Combined with the first it can be a +bit hard to get the video streaming going. But when it work, it seem +to do a good job.</p> + +<p>For the Debian packaging, I would love to find a good way to test +if the plugin work with VLC using autopkgtest. I tried, but do not +know enough of the inner workings of VLC to get it working. For now +the autopkgtest script is only checking if the .so file was +successfully loaded by VLC. If you have any suggestions, please +submit a patch to the Debian bug tracking system.</p> <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address @@ -397,135 +432,73 @@ activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address - Overvåkning i Kina vs. Norge - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Overv_kning_i_Kina_vs__Norge.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Overv_kning_i_Kina_vs__Norge.html - Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:40:00 +0100 - <p>Jeg lar meg fascinere av en artikkel -<a href="https://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/terroristene-star-pa-dora/69436116">i -Dagbladet om Kinas håndtering av Xinjiang</a>, spesielt følgende -utsnitt:</p> - -<p><blockquote> - -<p>«I den sørvestlige byen Kashgar nærmere grensa til -Sentral-Asia meldes det nå at 120.000 uigurer er internert i såkalte -omskoleringsleirer. Samtidig er det innført et omfattende -helsesjekk-program med innsamling og lagring av DNA-prøver fra -absolutt alle innbyggerne. De mest avanserte overvåkingsmetodene -testes ut her. Programmer for å gjenkjenne ansikter og stemmer er på -plass i regionen. Der har de lokale myndighetene begynt å installere -GPS-systemer i alle kjøretøy og egne sporingsapper i -mobiltelefoner.</p> - -<p>Politimetodene griper så dypt inn i folks dagligliv at motstanden -mot Beijing-regimet øker.»</p> + Release 0.2 of free software archive system Nikita announced + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Release_0_2_of_free_software_archive_system_Nikita_announced.html + http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Release_0_2_of_free_software_archive_system_Nikita_announced.html + Thu, 18 Oct 2018 14:40:00 +0200 + <p>This morning, the new release of the +<a href="https://gitlab.com/OsloMet-ABI/nikita-noark5-core/">Nikita +Noark 5 core project</a> was +<a href="https://lists.nuug.no/pipermail/nikita-noark/2018-October/000406.html">announced +on the project mailing list</a>. The free software solution is an +implementation of the Norwegian archive standard Noark 5 used by +government offices in Norway. These were the changes in version 0.2 +since version 0.1.1 (from NEWS.md): -</blockquote></p> +<ul> + <li>Fix typos in REL names</li> + <li>Tidy up error message reporting</li> + <li>Fix issue where we used Integer.valueOf(), not Integer.getInteger()</li> + <li>Change some String handling to StringBuffer</li> + <li>Fix error reporting</li> + <li>Code tidy-up</li> + <li>Fix issue using static non-synchronized SimpleDateFormat to avoid + race conditions</li> + <li>Fix problem where deserialisers were treating integers as strings</li> + <li>Update methods to make them null-safe</li> + <li>Fix many issues reported by coverity</li> + <li>Improve equals(), compareTo() and hash() in domain model</li> + <li>Improvements to the domain model for metadata classes</li> + <li>Fix CORS issues when downloading document</li> + <li>Implementation of case-handling with registryEntry and document upload</li> + <li>Better support in Javascript for OPTIONS</li> + <li>Adding concept description of mail integration</li> + <li>Improve setting of default values for GET on ny-journalpost</li> + <li>Better handling of required values during deserialisation </li> + <li>Changed tilknyttetDato (M620) from date to dateTime</li> + <li>Corrected some opprettetDato (M600) (de)serialisation errors.</li> + <li>Improve parse error reporting.</li> + <li>Started on OData search and filtering.</li> + <li>Added Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct to project.</li> + <li>Moved repository and project from Github to Gitlab.</li> + <li>Restructured repository, moved code into src/ and web/.</li> + <li>Updated code to use Spring Boot version 2.</li> + <li>Added support for OAuth2 authentication.</li> + <li>Fixed several bugs discovered by Coverity.</li> + <li>Corrected handling of date/datetime fields.</li> + <li>Improved error reporting when rejecting during deserializatoin.</li> + <li>Adjusted default values provided for ny-arkivdel, ny-mappe, + ny-saksmappe, ny-journalpost and ny-dokumentbeskrivelse.</li> + <li>Several fixes for korrespondansepart*.</li> + <li>Updated web GUI: + <ul> + <li>Now handle both file upload and download.</li> + <li>Uses new OAuth2 authentication for login.</li> + <li>Forms now fetches default values from API using GET.</li> + <li>Added RFC 822 (email), TIFF and JPEG to list of possible file formats.</li> + </ul></li> +</ul> -<p>Beskrivelsen avviker jo desverre ikke så veldig mye fra tilstanden -her i Norge.</p> - -<table> -<tr> -<th>Dataregistrering</th> -<th>Kina</th> -<th>Norge</th> - -<tr> -<td>Innsamling og lagring av DNA-prøver fra befolkningen</td> -<td>Ja</td> -<td>Delvis, planlagt for alle nyfødte.</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Ansiktsgjenkjenning</td> -<td>Ja</td> -<td>Ja</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Stemmegjenkjenning</td> -<td>Ja</td> -<td>Nei</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Posisjons-sporing av mobiltelefoner</td> -<td>Ja</td> -<td>Ja</td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td>Posisjons-sporing av biler</td> -<td>Ja</td> -<td>Ja</td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<p>I Norge har jo situasjonen rundt Folkehelseinstituttets lagring av -DNA-informasjon på vegne av politiet, der de nektet å slette -informasjon politiet ikke hadde lov til å ta vare på, gjort det klart -at DNA tar vare på ganske lenge. I tillegg finnes det utallige -biobanker som lagres til evig tid, og det er planer om å innføre -<a href="https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/75E9/4-av-10-mener-staten-bor-lagre-DNA-profiler-pa-alle-nyfodte">evig -lagring av DNA-materiale fra alle spebarn som fødes</a> (med mulighet -for å be om sletting).</p> - -<p>I Norge er det system på plass for ansiktsgjenkjenning, som -<a href="https://www.nrk.no/norge/kun-gardermoen-har-teknologi-for-ansiktsgjenkjenning-i-norge-1.12719461">en -NRK-artikkel fra 2015</a> forteller er aktiv på Gardermoen, samt -<a href="https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/inntil-27-000-bor-i-norge-under-falsk-id/60500781">brukes -til å analysere bilder innsamlet av myndighetene</a>. Brukes det også -flere plasser? Det er tett med overvåkningskamera kontrollert av -politi og andre myndigheter i for eksempel Oslo sentrum.</p> - -<p>Jeg er ikke kjent med at Norge har noe system for identifisering av -personer ved hjelp av stemmegjenkjenning.</p> - -<p>Posisjons-sporing av mobiltelefoner er ruinemessig tilgjengelig for -blant annet politi, NAV og Finanstilsynet, i tråd med krav i -telefonselskapenes konsesjon. I tillegg rapporterer smarttelefoner -sin posisjon til utviklerne av utallige mobil-apper, der myndigheter -og andre kan hente ut informasjon ved behov. Det er intet behov for -noen egen app for dette.</p> - -<p>Posisjons-sporing av biler er rutinemessig tilgjengelig via et tett -nett av målepunkter på veiene (automatiske bomstasjoner, -køfribrikke-registrering, automatiske fartsmålere og andre veikamera). -Det er i tillegg vedtatt at alle nye biler skal selges med utstyr for -GPS-sporing (eCall).</p> - -<p>Det er jammen godt vi lever i et liberalt demokrati, og ikke en -overvåkningsstat, eller?</p> +<p>The changes and improvements are extensive. Running diffstat on +the changes between git tab 0.1.1 and 0.2 show 1098 files changed, +108666 insertions(+), 54066 deletions(-).</p> -<p>Som vanlig, hvis du bruker Bitcoin og ønsker å vise din støtte til -det jeg driver med, setter jeg pris på om du sender Bitcoin-donasjoner -til min adresse -<b><a href="bitcoin:15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b">15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b</a></b>.</p> - - - - - How hard can æ, ø and å be? - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_hard_can______and___be_.html - http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_hard_can______and___be_.html - Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:10:00 +0100 - <img src="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2018-02-11-peppes-unicode.jpeg" align="right"/> - -<p>We write 2018, and it is 30 years since Unicode was introduced. -Most of us in Norway have come to expect the use of our alphabet to -just work with any computer system. But it is apparently beyond reach -of the computers printing recites at a restaurant. Recently I visited -a Peppes pizza resturant, and noticed a few details on the recite. -Notice how 'ø' and 'å' are replaced with strange symbols in -'Servitør', 'Å BETALE', 'Beløp pr. gjest', 'Takk for besøket.' and 'Vi -gleder oss til å se deg igjen'.</p> - -<p>I would say that this state is passed sad and over in embarrassing.</p> - -<p>I removed personal and private information to be nice.</p> +<p>If free and open standardized archiving API sound interesting to +you, please contact us on IRC +(<a href="irc://irc.freenode.net/%23nikita">#nikita on +irc.freenode.net</a>) or email +(<a href="https://lists.nuug.no/mailman/listinfo/nikita-noark">nikita-noark +mailing list</a>).</p> <p>As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address