X-Git-Url: http://pere.pagekite.me/gitweb/homepage.git/blobdiff_plain/fc607dbcfcbca8e1e4545bd13910ad024db198f4..271aba3cc2efb48d8c0720a80a64f7845124cba6:/blog/index.html diff --git a/blog/index.html b/blog/index.html index c027850ac2..1cd5d5e3f2 100644 --- a/blog/index.html +++ b/blog/index.html @@ -19,6 +19,287 @@ +
+
Jami/Ring, finally functioning peer to peer communication client
+
19th June 2019
+

Some years ago, in 2016, I +wrote +for the first time about the Ring peer to peer messaging system. +It would provide messaging without any central server coordinating the +system and without requiring all users to register a phone number or +own a mobile phone. Back then, I could not get it to work, and put it +aside until it had seen more development. A few days ago I decided to +give it another try, and am happy to report that this time I am able +to not only send and receive messages, but also place audio and video +calls. But only if UDP is not blocked into your network.

+ +

The Ring system changed name earlier this year to +Jami. I +tried doing web search for 'ring' when I discovered it for the first +time, and can only applaud this change as it is impossible to find +something called Ring among the noise of other uses of that word. Now +you can search for 'jami' and this client and +the Jami system is the first hit at +least on duckduckgo.

+ +

Jami will by default encrypt messages as well as audio and video +calls, and try to send them directly between the communicating parties +if possible. If this proves impossible (for example if both ends are +behind NAT), it will use a central SIP TURN server maintained by the +Jami project. Jami can also be a normal SIP client. If the SIP +server is unencrypted, the audio and video calls will also be +unencrypted. This is as far as I know the only case where Jami will +do anything without encryption.

+ +

Jami is available for several platforms: Linux, Windows, MacOSX, +Android, iOS, and Android TV. It is included in Debian already. Jami +also work for those using F-Droid without any Google connections, +while Signal do not. +The +protocol is described in the Ring project wiki. The system uses a +distributed hash table (DHT) system (similar to BitTorrent) running +over UDP. On one of the networks I use, I discovered Jami failed to +work. I tracked this down to the fact that incoming UDP packages +going to ports 1-49999 were blocked, and the DHT would pick a random +port and end up in the low range most of the time. After talking to +the developers, I solved this by enabling the dhtproxy in the +settings, thus using TCP to talk to a central DHT proxy instead of + +peering directly with others. I've been told the developers are +working on allowing DHT to use TCP to avoid this problem. I also ran +into a problem when trying to talk to the version of Ring included in +Debian Stable (Stretch). Apparently the protocol changed between +beta2 and the current version, making these clients incompatible. +Hopefully the protocol will not be made incompatible in the +future.

+ +

It is worth noting that while looking at Jami and its features, I +came across another communication platform I have not tested yet. The +Tox protocol +and family of Tox clients. It might +become the topic of a future blog post.

+ +

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

+
+
+ + + Tags: debian, english, sikkerhet, surveillance. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
More sales number for my Free Culture paper editions (2019-edition)
+
11th June 2019
+

The first book I published, +Free Culture by Lawrence +Lessig, is still selling a few copies. Not a lot, but enough to +have contributed slightly over $500 to the Creative Commons Corporation +so far. All the profit is sent there. Most books are still sold via +Amazon (83 copies), with Ingram second (49) and Lulu (12) and Machette (7) as +minor channels. Bying directly from Lulu bring the largest cut to +Creative Commons. The English Edition sold 80 copies so far, the +French 59 copies, and Norwegian only 8 copies. Nothing impressive, +but nice to see the work we put down is still being appreciated. The +ebook edition is available for free from +Github.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Title / languageQuantity
2016 jan-jun2016 jul-dec2017 jan-jun2017 jul-dec2018 jan-jun2018 jul-dec2019 jan-may
Culture Libre / French361911767
Fri kultur / Norwegian7100000
Free Culture / English1427169373
Total24343520101310
+ +

It is fun to see the French edition being more popular than the +English one.

+ +

If you would like to translate and publish the book in your native +language, I would be happy to help make it happen. Please get in +touch.

+
+
+ + + Tags: docbook, english, freeculture. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
Official MIME type "text/vnd.sosi" for SOSI map data
+
4th June 2019
+

Just 15 days ago, +I +mentioned my submission to IANA to register an official MIME type +for the SOSI vector map format. This morning, just an hour ago, I was +notified that +the +MIME type "text/vnd.sosi" is registered for this format. In +addition to this registration, my +file(1) +patch for a pattern matching rule for SOSI files has been accepted +into the official source of that program (pending a new release), and +I've been told by the team behind +PRONOM that +the SOSI format will be included in the next release of PRONOM, which +they plan to release this summer around July.

+ +

I am very happy to see all of this fall into place, for use by +the +Noark 5 Tjenestegrensesnitt implementations.

+ +

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

+
+
+ + + Tags: english, kart, noark5, standard. + + +
+
+
+ +
+
The space rover coquine, or how I ended up on the dark side of the moon
+
2nd June 2019
+

A while back a college and friend from Debian and the Skolelinux / +Debian Edu project approached me, asking if I knew someone that might +be interested in helping out with a technology project he was running +as a teacher at L'école +franco-danoise - the Danish-French school and kindergarden. The +kids were building robots, rovers. The story behind it is to build a +rover for use +on +the dark side of the moon, and remote control it. As travel cost +was a bit high for the final destination, and they wanted to test the +concept first, he was looking for volunteers to host a rover for the +kids to control in a foreign country. I ended up volunteering as a +host, and last week the rover arrived. It took a while to arrive +after it was +built and shipped, because of customs confusion. Luckily we were +able fix it quickly with help from my colleges at work.

+ +

This is what it looked like when the rover arrived. Note the cute +eyes looking up on me from the wrapping

+ + + + + +

Once the robot arrived, we needed to track +down batteries and figure out how to build custom firmware for it with +the appropriate wifi settings. I asked a friend if I could get two +18650 batteries from his pile of Tesla batteries (he had them from the +wrack of a crashed Tesla), so now the rover is running on Tesla +batteries.

+ +

Building +the rover +firmware proved a bit harder, as the code did not work out of the +box with the Arduino IDE package in Debian Buster. I suspect this is +due to a unsolved + license problem +with arduino blocking Debian from upgrading to the latest version. +In the end we gave up debugging why the IDE failed to find the +required libraries, and ended up using the Arduino Makefile from the +arduino-mk Debian +package instead. Unfortunately the camera library is missing from +the Arduino environment in Debian, so we disabled the camera support +for the first firmware build, to get something up and running. With +this reduced firmware, the robot could be controlled via the +controller server, driving around and measuring distance using its +internal acoustic sensor.

+ +

Next, With some help from my friend in Denmark, which checked in the +camera library into the gitlab repository for me to use, we were able +to build a new and more complete version of the firmware, and the +robot is now up and running. This is what the "commander" web page +look like after taking a measurement and a snapshot:

+ + + +

If you want to learn more about this project, you can check out the +The +Dark Side Challenge Hackaday web pages.

+ +

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my +activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address +15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

+
+
+ + + Tags: english, robot. + + +
+
+
+
Nikita version 0.4 released - free software archive API server
22nd May 2019
@@ -601,214 +882,6 @@ Merk, betaling med bitcoin er ikke anonymt. :)

-
-
Stortinget vedtar maskinlesbart register over 20% av selskapseierne i Norge
-
7th February 2019
-

Jeg registrerer med glede at Stortinget i dag har -vedtatt -at det skal vedlikeholdes et åpent og maskinlesbart register over -reelle rettighetshavere i Norge. Her kan en kanskje få et -register som kan brukes til å analysere eierskap og kontroll i Norge -maskinelt og knytte det til internasjonale databaser som -OpenCorporates. Det liker -jeg.

- -

Den vedtatte grense på 25 prosents eierandel fikk stor -oppmerksomhet i debatten. Jeg ser fra enkel analyse av skatteetatens -eierskapsregister at 80.4% av alle selskapseiere i registeret har -mindre enn 25% eierandel, mot 73.8% som har mindre enn 5% eierandel. -En grense på 25% vil altså utelukke 80.4% av selskapseierne fra det -vedtatte registeret, og en grense på 5% vil skjule 73.8%. En må helt -ned i registrering av eierandeler over circa 0.002% for å få mer enn -halvparten av selskapseierne i Norge. Mon tro hvor langt ned en må i -eierprosent for å få med alle eierskapene til politisk valgte -representanter?

- -

Jeg biter meg også merke i at Sivert Bjørnstad fra FrP -tilsynelatende tror at aksjonærregisteret er et eksisterende åpent -register, på tross av at det så vidt jeg vet kun deles ved personlig -oppmøte hos skatteetaten og ikke er tilgjengelig i maskinlesbart -format for enhver, og dermed så langt ikke er importert inn i -OpenCorporates. Det anser jeg ikke for et spesielt åpent register. -Debatten ga ellers lite håp om at situasjonen bedrer seg, da -finansministeren bare henviste til en fraværende næringsministeren og -ikke ville uttale seg om et skikkelig aksjonærregister snart dukker -opp.

- -

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 -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b. -Merk, betaling med bitcoin er ikke anonymt. :)

-
-
- - - Tags: norsk, offentlig innsyn. - - -
-
-
- -
-
Websocket from Kraken in Valutakrambod
-
1st February 2019
-

Yesterday, the Kraken virtual currency exchange announced -their -Websocket service, providing a stream of exchange updates to its -clients. Getting updated rates quickly is a good idea, so I used -their API -documentation and added Websocket support to the Kraken service in -Valutakrambod today. The python library can now get updates -from Kraken several times per second, instead of every time the -information is polled from the REST API.

- -

If this sound interesting to you, the code for valutakrambod is -available from -github. -Here is example output from the example client displaying rates in a -curses view:

- -

-           Name Pair   Bid         Ask         Spr    Ftcd    Age
- BitcoinsNorway BTCEUR   2959.2800   3021.0500   2.0%   36    nan    nan
-       Bitfinex BTCEUR   3087.9000   3088.0000   0.0%   36     37    nan
-        Bitmynt BTCEUR   3001.8700   3135.4600   4.3%   36     52    nan
-         Bitpay BTCEUR   3003.8659         nan   nan%   35    nan    nan
-       Bitstamp BTCEUR   3008.0000   3010.2300   0.1%    0      1      1
-           Bl3p BTCEUR   3000.6700   3010.9300   0.3%    1    nan    nan
-       Coinbase BTCEUR   2992.1800   3023.2500   1.0%   34    nan    nan
-         Kraken+BTCEUR   3005.7000   3006.6000   0.0%    0      1      0
-        Paymium BTCEUR   2940.0100   2993.4400   1.8%    0   2688    nan
- BitcoinsNorway BTCNOK  29000.0000  29360.7400   1.2%   36    nan    nan
-        Bitmynt BTCNOK  29115.6400  29720.7500   2.0%   36     52    nan
-         Bitpay BTCNOK  29029.2512         nan   nan%   36    nan    nan
-       Coinbase BTCNOK  28927.6000  29218.5900   1.0%   35    nan    nan
-        MiraiEx BTCNOK  29097.7000  29741.4200   2.2%   36    nan    nan
- BitcoinsNorway BTCUSD   3385.4200   3456.0900   2.0%   36    nan    nan
-       Bitfinex BTCUSD   3538.5000   3538.6000   0.0%   36     45    nan
-         Bitpay BTCUSD   3443.4600         nan   nan%   34    nan    nan
-       Bitstamp BTCUSD   3443.0100   3445.0500   0.1%    0      2      1
-       Coinbase BTCUSD   3428.1600   3462.6300   1.0%   33    nan    nan
-         Gemini BTCUSD   3445.8800   3445.8900   0.0%   36    326    nan
-         Hitbtc BTCUSD   3473.4700   3473.0700  -0.0%    0      0      0
-         Kraken+BTCUSD   3444.4000   3445.6000   0.0%    0      1      0
-  Exchangerates EURNOK      9.6685      9.6685   0.0%   36  22226    nan
-     Norgesbank EURNOK      9.6685      9.6685   0.0%   36  22226    nan
-       Bitstamp EURUSD      1.1440      1.1462   0.2%    0      1      2
-  Exchangerates EURUSD      1.1471      1.1471   0.0%   36  22226    nan
- BitcoinsNorway LTCEUR      1.0009     22.6538  95.6%   35    nan    nan
- BitcoinsNorway LTCNOK    259.0900    264.9300   2.2%   35    nan    nan
- BitcoinsNorway LTCUSD      0.0000     29.0000 100.0%   35    nan    nan
-     Norgesbank USDNOK      8.4286      8.4286   0.0%   36  22226    nan
-

- -

Yes, I notice the strange negative spread on Hitbtc. I've seen the -same on Kraken. Another strange observation is that Kraken some times -announce trade orders a fraction of a second in the future. I really -wonder what is going on there.

- -

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

-
-
- - - Tags: bitcoin, english. - - -
-
-
- -
-
Strategispillet Unknown Horizons nå tilgjengelig på bokmål
-
23rd January 2019
-

I høst ble jeg inspirert til å bidra til oversettelsen av -strategispillet Unknown -Horizons, og oversatte de nesten 200 strengene i prosjektet til -bokmål. Deretter har jeg gått å ventet på at det kom en ny utgave som -inneholdt disse oversettelsene. Nå er endelig ventetiden over. Den -nye versjonen kom på nyåret, og ble -lastet opp i -Debian for noen få dager siden. I går kveld fikk jeg testet det ut, og -må innrømme at oversettelsene fungerer fint. Fant noen få tekster som -måtte justeres, men ikke noe alvorlig. Har oppdatert -oversettelsen på -Weblate, slik at neste utgave vil være enda bedre. :)

- -

Spillet er et ressursstyringsspill ala Civilization, og er morsomt -Ã¥ spille for oss som liker slikt. :)

- -

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 -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b. -Merk, betaling med bitcoin er ikke anonymt. :)

-
-
- - - Tags: debian, norsk. - - -
-
-
- -
-
Debian now got everything you need to program Micro:bit
-
22nd January 2019
-

I am amazed and very pleased to discover that since a few days ago, -everything you need to program the BBC -micro:bit is available from the Debian archive. All this is -thanks to the hard work of Nick Morrott and the Debian python -packaging team. The micro:bit project recommend the mu-editor to -program the microcomputer, as this editor will take care of all the -machinery required to injekt/flash micropython alongside the program -into the micro:bit, as long as the pieces are available.

- -

There are three main pieces involved. The first to enter Debian -was -python-uflash, -which was accepted into the archive 2019-01-12. The next one was -mu-editor, which -showed up 2019-01-13. The final and hardest part to to into the -archive was -firmware-microbit-micropython, -which needed to get its build system and dependencies into Debian -before it was accepted 2019-01-20. The last one is already in Debian -Unstable and should enter Debian Testing / Buster in three days. This -all allow any user of the micro:bit to get going by simply running -'apt install mu-editor' when using Testing or Unstable, and once -Buster is released as stable, all the users of Debian stable will be -catered for.

- -

As a minor final touch, I added rules to -the isenkram -package for recognizing micro:bit and recommend the mu-editor -package. This make sure any user of the isenkram desktop daemon will -get a popup suggesting to install mu-editor then the USB cable from -the micro:bit is inserted for the first time.

- -

This should make it easier to have fun.

- -

As usual, if you use Bitcoin and want to show your support of my -activities, please send Bitcoin donations to my address -15oWEoG9dUPovwmUL9KWAnYRtNJEkP1u1b.

-
-
- - - Tags: debian, english, robot. - - -
-
-
-

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