PostgreSQL CLI utility with SSL

The Postgres CLI utility can sometimes prove a little painful to use when trying to connect to a server. In this case the sticking point was require SSL on the server. Read More...

The noisy duck gets shot

Back when I was doing my MBA we had a presentation on diversity. The instructor identified 2 truisms to illustrate cultural differences. The aim was to show the degree to which 2 cultures could value the same thing differently.

The concerning thing for me is I am starting to feel that the truism from my non-native culture is starting to hold more meaning for me than the one from my own. Read More...

Accessing Apple from Australia

All I was trying to do was update my iPhone and iPad to 7.1, but I kept getting a server unavailable message. A ping to apple.com returned Communication prohibited by filter then the penny dropped someone at an ISP in the states was blackholing traffic to Apple.

Update (12:09 AM) There has been a suggestion that this is the result of DNS attack affecting some Apple domains (http://www.macnn.com/articles/14/03/12/fault.is.likely.due.to.hacker.attack.rather.than.apple.originated.issue/) which would have many of the same symptoms as being blackholed on the way to a legitimate location. The attackers were at least clever enough to make sure that the reverse address had something Apple related in it and at least in the case of the addresses I looked at addresses owned by Apple. Read More...