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                <title>Petter Reinholdtsen - Entries from November 2016</title>
                <description>Entries from November 2016</description>
                <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/</link>

        
        <item>
                <title>Coz profiler for multi-threaded software is now in Debian</title>
                <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Coz_profiler_for_multi_threaded_software_is_now_in_Debian.html</link>        
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Coz_profiler_for_multi_threaded_software_is_now_in_Debian.html</guid>
                <pubDate>Sun, 13 Nov 2016 12:30:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://coz-profiler.org/&quot;&gt;The Coz profiler&lt;/a&gt;, a nice
profiler able to run benchmarking experiments on the instrumented
multi-threaded program, finally
&lt;a href=&quot;https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/coz-profiler&quot;&gt;made it into
Debian unstable yesterday&lt;/A&gt;.  Lluís Vilanova and I have spent many
months since
&lt;a href=&quot;http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Coz_can_help_you_find_bottlenecks_in_multi_threaded_software___nice_free_software.html&quot;&gt;I
blogged about the coz tool&lt;/a&gt; in August working with upstream to make
it suitable for Debian.  There are still issues with clang
compatibility, inline assembly only working x86 and minimized
JavaScript libraries.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;To test it, install &#39;coz-profiler&#39; using apt and run it like this:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;tt&gt;coz run --- /path/to/binary-with-debug-info&lt;/tt&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;This will produce a profile.coz file in the current working
directory with the profiling information.  This is then given to a
JavaScript application provided in the package and available from
&lt;a href=&quot;http://plasma-umass.github.io/coz/&quot;&gt;a project web page&lt;/a&gt;.
To start the local copy, invoke it in a browser like this:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;tt&gt;sensible-browser /usr/share/coz-profiler/viewer/index.htm&lt;/tt&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;See the project home page and the
&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.usenix.org/publications/login/summer2016/curtsinger&quot;&gt;USENIX
;login: article on Coz&lt;/a&gt; for more information on how it is
working.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
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        <item>
                <title>How to talk with your loved ones in private</title>
                <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_talk_with_your_loved_ones_in_private.html</link>        
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/How_to_talk_with_your_loved_ones_in_private.html</guid>
                <pubDate>Mon, 7 Nov 2016 10:25:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;A few days ago I ran a very biased and informal survey to get an
idea about what options are being used to communicate with end to end
encryption with friends and family.  I explicitly asked people not to
list options only used in a work setting.  The background is the
uneasy feeling I get when using Signal, a feeling shared by others as
a blog post from Sander Venima about
&lt;a href=&quot;https://sandervenema.ch/2016/11/why-i-wont-recommend-signal-anymore/&quot;&gt;why
he do not recommend Signal anymore&lt;/a&gt; (with
&lt;a href=&quot;https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12883410&quot;&gt;feedback from
the Signal author available from ycombinator&lt;/a&gt;).  I wanted an
overview of the options being used, and hope to include those options
in a less biased survey later on.  So far I have not taken the time to
look into the individual proposed systems.  They range from text
sharing web pages, via file sharing and email to instant messaging,
VOIP and video conferencing.  For those considering which system to
use, it is also useful to have a look at
&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-scorecard&quot;&gt;the EFF Secure
messaging scorecard&lt;/a&gt; which is slightly out of date but still
provide valuable information.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;So, on to the list.  There were some used by many, some used by a
few, some rarely used ones and a few mentioned but without anyone
claiming to use them.  Notice the grouping is in reality quite random
given the biased self selected set of participants.  First the ones
used by many:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;

&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://whispersystems.org/&quot;&gt;Signal&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Email w/&lt;a href=&quot;http://openpgp.org/&quot;&gt;OpenPGP&lt;/a&gt; (Enigmail, GPGSuite,etc)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.whatsapp.com/&quot;&gt;Whatsapp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;IRC w/&lt;a href=&quot;https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/&quot;&gt;OTR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;XMPP w/&lt;a href=&quot;https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/&quot;&gt;OTR&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Then the ones used by a few.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;

&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wiki.mumble.info/wiki/Main_Page&quot;&gt;Mumble&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;iMessage (included in iOS from Apple)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://telegram.org/&quot;&gt;Telegram&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://jitsi.org/&quot;&gt;Jitsi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://keybase.io/download&quot;&gt;Keybase file&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Then the ones used by even fewer people&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;

&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://ring.cx/&quot;&gt;Ring&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://bitmessage.org/&quot;&gt;Bitmessage&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://wire.com/&quot;&gt;Wire&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;VoIP w/&lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZRTP&quot;&gt;ZRTP&lt;/a&gt; or controlled &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Real-time_Transport_Protocol&quot;&gt;SRTP&lt;/a&gt; (e.g using &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSipSimple&quot;&gt;CSipSimple&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linphone&quot;&gt;Linphone&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://matrix.org/&quot;&gt;Matrix&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://kontalk.org/&quot;&gt;Kontalk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://0bin.net/&quot;&gt;0bin&lt;/a&gt; (encrypted pastebin)&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://appear.in&quot;&gt;Appear.in&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://riot.im/&quot;&gt;riot&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.wickr.com/&quot;&gt;Wickr Me&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And finally the ones mentioned by not marked as used by
anyone. This might be a mistake, perhaps the person adding the entry
forgot to flag it as used?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;

&lt;li&gt;Email w/Certificates &lt;a href=&quot;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/MIME&quot;&gt;S/MIME&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.crypho.com/&quot;&gt;Crypho&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://cryptpad.fr/&quot;&gt;CryptPad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://github.com/ricochet-im/ricochet&quot;&gt;ricochet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Given the network effect it seem obvious to me that we as a society
have been divided and conquered by those interested in keeping
encrypted and secure communication away from the masses.  The
finishing remarks &lt;a href=&quot;https://vimeo.com/97505679&quot;&gt;from Aral Balkan
in his talk &quot;Free is a lie&quot;&lt;/a&gt; about the usability of free software
really come into effect when you want to communicate in private with
your friends and family.  We can not expect them to allow the
usability of communication tool to block their ability to talk to
their loved ones.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Note for example the option IRC w/OTR.  Most IRC clients do not
have OTR support, so in most cases OTR would not be an option, even if
you wanted to.  In my personal experience, about 1 in 20 I talk to
have a IRC client with OTR.  For private communication to really be
available, most people to talk to must have the option in their
currently used client.  I can not simply ask my family to install an
IRC client.  I need to guide them through a technical multi-step
process of adding extensions to the client to get them going.  This is
a non-starter for most.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;I would like to be able to do video phone calls, audio phone calls,
exchange instant messages and share files with my loved ones, without
being forced to share with people I do not know.  I do not want to
share the content of the conversations, and I do not want to share who
I communicate with or the fact that I communicate with someone.
Without all these factors in place, my private life is being more or
less invaded.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
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        <item>
                <title>My own self balancing Lego Segway</title>
                <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/My_own_self_balancing_Lego_Segway.html</link>        
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/My_own_self_balancing_Lego_Segway.html</guid>
                <pubDate>Fri, 4 Nov 2016 10:15:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;A while back I received a Gyro sensor for the NXT
&lt;a href=&quot;mindstorms.lego.com&quot;&gt;Mindstorms&lt;/a&gt; controller as a birthday
present.  It had been on my wishlist for a while, because I wanted to
build a Segway like balancing lego robot.  I had already built
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nxtprograms.com/NXT2/segway/&quot;&gt;a simple balancing
robot&lt;/a&gt; with the kids, using the light/color sensor included in the
NXT kit as the balance sensor, but it was not working very well.  It
could balance for a while, but was very sensitive to the light
condition in the room and the reflective properties of the surface and
would fall over after a short while.  I wanted something more robust,
and had
&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hitechnic.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&amp;key=NGY1044&quot;&gt;the
gyro sensor from HiTechnic&lt;/a&gt; I believed would solve it on my
wishlist for some years before it suddenly showed up as a gift from my
loved ones. :)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately I have not had time to sit down and play with it
since then.  But that changed some days ago, when I was searching for
lego segway information and came across a recipe from HiTechnic for
building
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hitechnic.com/blog/gyro-sensor/htway/&quot;&gt;the
HTWay&lt;/a&gt;, a segway like balancing robot.  Build instructions and
&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.hitechnic.com/upload/786-HTWayC.nxc&quot;&gt;source
code&lt;/a&gt; was included, so it was just a question of putting it all
together.  And thanks to the great work of many Debian developers, the
compiler needed to build the source for the NXT is already included in
Debian, so I was read to go in less than an hour.  The resulting robot
do not look very impressive in its simplicity:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;img width=&quot;70%&quot; src=&quot;http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2016-11-04-lego-htway-robot.jpeg&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Because I lack the infrared sensor used to control the robot in the
design from HiTechnic, I had to comment out the last task
(taskControl).  I simply placed /* and */ around it get the program
working without that sensor present.  Now it balances just fine until
the battery status run low:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;video width=&quot;70%&quot; controls=&quot;true&quot;&gt;
   &lt;source src=&quot;http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/images/2016-11-04-lego-htway-balancing.ogv&quot; type=&quot;video/ogg&quot;&gt;
&lt;/video&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Now we would like to teach it how to follow a line and take remote
control instructions using the included Bluetooth receiver in the NXT.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;If you, like me, love LEGO and want to make sure we find the tools
they need to work with LEGO in Debian and all our derivative
distributions like Ubuntu, check out
&lt;a href=&quot;http://wiki.debian.org/LegoDesigners&quot;&gt;the LEGO designers
project page&lt;/a&gt; and join the Debian LEGO team.  Personally I own a
RCX and NXT controller (no EV3), and would like to make sure the
Debian tools needed to program the systems I own work as they
should.&lt;/p&gt;
</description>
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        <item>
                <title>Aktivitetsbånd som beskytter privatsfæren</title>
                <link>http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Aktivitetsb_nd_som_beskytter_privatsf_ren.html</link>        
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Aktivitetsb_nd_som_beskytter_privatsf_ren.html</guid>
                <pubDate>Thu, 3 Nov 2016 09:55:00 +0100</pubDate>
                <description>&lt;p&gt;Jeg ble så imponert over
&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.nrk.no/norge/forbrukerradet-mener-aktivitetsarmband-strider-mot-norsk-lov-1.13209079&quot;&gt;dagens
gladnyhet på NRK&lt;/a&gt;, om at Forbrukerrådet klager inn vilkårene for
bruk av aktivitetsbånd fra Fitbit, Garmin, Jawbone og Mio til
Datatilsynet og forbrukerombudet, at jeg sendte følgende brev til
forbrukerrådet for å uttrykke min støtte:

&lt;blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Jeg ble veldig glad over å lese at Forbrukerrådet
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.forbrukerradet.no/siste-nytt/klager-inn-aktivitetsarmband-for-brudd-pa-norsk-lov/&quot;&gt;klager
inn flere aktivitetsbånd til Datatilsynet for dårlige vilkår&lt;/a&gt;.  Jeg
har ønsket meg et aktivitetsbånd som kan måle puls, bevegelse og
gjerne også andre helserelaterte indikatorer en stund nå.  De eneste
jeg har funnet i salg gjør, som dere også har oppdaget, graverende
inngrep i privatsfæren og sender informasjonen ut av huset til folk og
organisasjoner jeg ikke ønsker å dele aktivitets- og helseinformasjon
med.  Jeg ønsker et alternativ som &lt;em&gt;ikke&lt;/em&gt; sender informasjon til
skyen, men derimot bruker
&lt;a href=&quot;http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/Fri_og__pen_standard__slik_Digistan_ser_det.html&quot;&gt;en
fritt og åpent standardisert&lt;/a&gt; protokoll (eller i det minste en
dokumentert protokoll uten patent- og opphavsrettslige
bruksbegrensinger) til å kommunisere med datautstyr jeg kontrollerer.
Er jo ikke interessert i å betale noen for å tilrøve seg
personopplysninger fra meg.  Desverre har jeg ikke funnet noe
alternativ så langt.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Det holder ikke å endre på bruksvilkårene for enhetene, slik
Datatilsynet ofte legger opp til i sin behandling, når de gjør slik
f.eks. Fitbit (den jeg har sett mest på).  Fitbit krypterer
informasjonen på enheten og sender den kryptert til leverandøren.  Det
gjør det i praksis umulig både å sjekke hva slags informasjon som
sendes over, og umulig å ta imot informasjonen selv i stedet for
Fitbit.  Uansett hva slags historie som forteller i bruksvilkårene er
en jo både prisgitt leverandørens godvilje og at de ikke tvinges av
sitt lands myndigheter til å lyve til sine kunder om hvorvidt
personopplysninger spres ut over det bruksvilkårene sier.  Det er
veldokumentert hvordan f.eks. USA tvinger selskaper vha. såkalte
National security letters til å utlevere personopplysninger samtidig
som de ikke får lov til å fortelle dette til kundene sine.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Stå på, jeg er veldig glade for at dere har sett på saken.  Vet
dere om aktivitetsbånd i salg i dag som ikke tvinger en til å utlevere
aktivitets- og helseopplysninger med leverandøren?&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Jeg håper en konkurrent som respekterer kundenes privatliv klarer å
nå opp i markedet, slik at det finnes et reelt alternativ for oss som
har full tillit til at skyleverandører vil prioritere egen inntjening
og myndighetspålegg langt foran kundenes rett til privatliv.  Jeg har
ingen tiltro til at Datatilsynet vil kreve noe mer enn at vilkårene
endres slik at de forklarer eksplisitt i hvor stor grad bruk av
produktene utraderer privatsfæren til kundene.  Det vil nok gjøre de
innklagede armbåndene «lovlige», men fortsatt tvinge kundene til å
dele sine personopplysninger med leverandøren.&lt;/p&gt;
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