Verifying and Getting the contents of a P7S signed SMIME file
Testing time
"Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so"
Douglas Adams
Firstly let us be clear time does not go backwards or jump forwards in daylight savings … time itself just ticks on like it usually does … the only thing that changes is that the representation of time on the clock changes.
Unfortunately many of the libraries we use do not make it absolutely clear about how they relate to system time and representational time. After all if you live in most places in the world there are only a couple of hours that are affected…
Perhaps we need a way to test this and other changes like leap years … and if it were convenient then we might actually do this regularly
I don't know: 2 ways
This tiny statement has 2 dichotomous meanings and effects. In its:
- empowering mode - its an invitation to find out, to learn, to grow - opening future possibilities
- paralytic mode - it is an invitation to not proceed, to block - closing or limiting possibilities
Expect the Uexpected
- finite arithmetic,
- the limits of measurement; and,
- quantum physics.
We frequently drop complexity out by making useful models of the world. This simplification allows us to make a solution. But the next step is add back in the relevant bits where the real world upsets our model.
Be on the look out for places where those difficult cases might turn up and not let them arrive unexpected. Read More...
Safari Bypass Certificate Issue
Safari Certificate Issues
A work Around
Much as I like Safari (it really does make web pages look nicer) it's certificate handling is less than optimal. It is quite easy to get stuck in a loop with Safari complaining about the certificate letting you add it and then complaining about the certificate.
This is sometimes caused by automatically generated certificates having expired - but you don't get told this.
Read More...DIY CA to allow NRPE-NG to communicate without errors
This article shows how to build a tiny CA specifically targeted at managing certificates in a testing network. Read More...
Not every hour of the day is equal
How to not get the software you want
Many meanings are taken from this simple diagram including:
- the problem of Chinese Whispers
- poor specification
- the lack of shared understanding
However, above all these individual issues there is one overall truth:
Projects involving groups of people are hard to complete on time and on budget
Knowing this why do we insist on sabotaging projects through poor communication?
Why security by obscurity is a double own goal
How do you take your tablets?
Bullets are made from lead
Let me be clear here this is not a rant against Agile nor a defence of waterfall, my issue is that as a profession we are selling a story of this replaces that because only new is best rather than a story of use this or that depending on what works best. The former is an easy story to sell, but the later is far more powerful in the long run.
Fredrick Brooks claims that there is still no silver bullet. I hope to shift our mindset from looking for one silver bullet that solves all our software problems to a less exciting but more practical position of we have many tools some better suited to some tasks than others and we need to enable our engineers to choose from a menu. If all our bullets are made from lead (Lead is a base metal - a cheap utilitarian material - that gets the job done) then we can select better for the task at hand. Read More...