- wlug - University of Waikato Mail Lists

US Government Launches Open-Source Repository
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 04 Nov '16

04 Nov '16

The US Federal Government has just opened code.gov, a “platform designed to improve access to the federal government’s custom-developed software” <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/04/code_gov_goes_live/>. You can browse projects by department/agency.

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Google Says Bye-Bye To Eclipse
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 04 Nov '16

04 Nov '16

Google has officially abandoned its Android development plugin for Eclipse, in favour of its Android Studio IDE <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/03/google_knifes_eclipse_android_devel…>. For me, the nice thing about the Android SDK is that it gives you a choice: you can still build things from the command line, which makes it easy to set up custom build procedures. For example, the largest Android project I have dabbled with so far <https://github.com/ldo/ti5x_android> has 11,000 lines of Java code and 3,000 lines of Python, all created with Emacs. I’m not sure any IDE could gracefully build it at all.

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E-Voting Around The World
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Nov '16

03 Nov '16

Roundup of how various places implement electronic- and online-based voting systems <http://arstechnica.com/features/2016/11/internet-based-and-open-source-how-…>. Brazil: One major flaw [Prof Aranha] found was that the digital votes are randomly shuffled, as a way to provide extra security while in storage. However, the algorithm to provide that randomness is given a non-random seed: the timestamp. Australia, specifically the Australian Capital Territory: Still, despite the success of the open-source e-voting setup, [Electoral Commissioner] Green says its days may be numbered. Even though he has his doubts about the security and openness of Internet-based setups, he believes that it, not open-source e-voting, will "be the way of the future." Estonia: "If you sign something digitally with your Estonian ID card, it universally replaces a paper written signature and this can be applied anywhere—terminating contracts, creating contracts—everywhere. Everywhere you'd need a paper signature you can replace it with an electronic signature" ... And now, that applies to Internet-based voting as well.

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Spark Wants To Abandon Copper?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Nov '16

03 Nov '16

“Spark ... [is] not happy with the quality of the copper provided by the wholesale spin-out, Chorus.” Oh, and “The lucky 400 first houses in the trial are in the suburbs of the North Island city of Hamilton.” <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/03/cu_later_copper_spark_is_going_to_g…>

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trustworthy computing -- what this?
by Ian Young 03 Nov '16

03 Nov '16

Sorry if this strays off topic, though discussion is fairly eclectic imho ..... I was interested to learn that Microsoft has a senior director of trustworthy computing in this article. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/01/microsoft_google_bug_disclosure_spa… Perhaps comforting news, I usually assume that computing is minimally trustworthy these days. Not so much in terms of the performance of software (eg Linux) but in the extent of spying and covert mass data gathering. Just as well we have these large corporates to take care of us.

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death of copper, 4G coverage fubar
by rowan schischka 03 Nov '16

03 Nov '16

>As to 4G bwahahaha. When the Skinny mini offshoot offered a 4G deal >earlier this year I had a look. Coverage at that point was confined to >an area round the uni, and for some reason Chartwell. Perhaps it now >covers the entire metropolis of Hamilton? Let me know if I have missed >something there. And the greedies wanted $200 for a 4G modem. Nice one >Spinny. I brought my 4g skinny modem with me from auckland. I had to use it up there because the lease holder of my flat was refusing to upgrade her modem. She reckoned Spark confirmed there was nothing wrong with her modem but after a year I finally got to have a look at it and the arial was broken and there was a large crack through the case; she still refused to accept her modem was damaged and kept dropping connection so I got the 4g. It works very well and now comes in a 100GB plan that is faster than ADSL. Im using the 4g in Rototuna and I haven't been tempted to get fibre because of the lack of ethernet through the house, and my inability to persuade the property manager to allow me to install network ports in the walls. -- Kind Regards Rowan Schischka

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death of copper, 4G coverage fubar
by Ian Young 03 Nov '16

03 Nov '16

Apologies to thread lovers. Yes well. of course our telecom overlords want to get shot of copper. So last century. One annoying aspect of that cable network was that it needed some maintenance. Your modern day utility company doesn't like maintenance costs. And once it is shut down maybe the copper can be pulled out of the ground at some stage. On the shopping block with all those annoying exchange buildings. As to 4G bwahahaha. When the Skinny mini offshoot offered a 4G deal earlier this year I had a look. Coverage at that point was confined to an area round the uni, and for some reason Chartwell. Perhaps it now covers the entire metropolis of Hamilton? Let me know if I have missed something there. And the greedies wanted $200 for a 4G modem. Nice one Spinny. By the way, isn't this article wrong or misguiding in just about every respect? Much of the Register is wryly amusing and even informative on occasion, but this is surely a low point?

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Arch Linux Review
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 03 Nov '16

03 Nov '16

<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/02/arch_linux_taster/>: Arch gets very little coverage for a several reasons, not the least of which is that it's somewhat difficult to install and requires you feel comfortable with the command line to get it working. Worse, from the point of view of anyone trying to appeal to mainstream users, that difficulty is by design - nothing keeps the noobs out like a daunting install process. I never knew that about Arch. But my real excuse for mentioning this review is the picture. That looks like a Renault 4. Or rather, 3 of them, cut and joined together in a truly unholy Franken-mess. If you pointed it facing north, it would probably summon Cthulhu...

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When Is JSON Not JSON?
by Lawrence D'Oliveiro 01 Nov '16

01 Nov '16

I thought JSON was a nice, simple, straightforward spec. Turns out different implementations interpret some things just that little bit differently enough to lead to headaches. That means security headaches <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/01/json_parsers_tested/> ...

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Fwd: Domain Name Commission introduces provisional address masking option
by Simon Green 01 Nov '16

01 Nov '16

Not strictly Linux / Open Source related, but thought I'd share this in relation to making your .nz whois address information private if you are an individual. Most interesting is "Any mail sent to the masked address displayed on the WHOIS will be forwarded to the address on the Register, by DNCL.". This means you could give anyone or a company your masked address if you don't want to give out your real postal address. -- Simon -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Domain Name Commission introduces provisional address masking option Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2016 10:36:51 +1300 Media release – 1 November 2016 The Domain Name Commission (DNCL) has today introduced a free provisional address masking option where any individual (natural person) .nz domain name holder can ask that their contact address be masked from public display in the WHOIS (domain search tool). Just what information should be displayed when a WHOIS search is done on a .nz domain name is the subject of a major review. Throughout the review, DNCL has become aware that some individual registrants are concerned for privacy and personal safety reasons about having their contact address publicly displayed. The provisional address masking option has been introduced to help alleviate these concerns while DNCL carries on with its WHOIS review. Those wanting to take advantage of the option will have his or her contact address masked with a unique reference code and DNCL’s P.O. Box address. Domain Name Commissioner Debbie Monahan says DNCL is currently running a public consultation – asking for the community’s feedback on two policy options for withholding some information in the WHOIS, including contact address information. “In the meantime,” she says, “the address masking option announced today is intended to allay any personal safety concerns around public display of address information while we finish up our review and implement any permanent policy changes – expected to be later in 2017.” With the provisional address masking option, any individual registrant can ask that their contact address is masked from display in the .nz WHOIS. This doesn’t change their contact address information recorded on the .nz Register; it just means that information can’t be seen when someone does a WHOIS search on their domain name. Any mail sent to the masked address displayed on the WHOIS will be forwarded to the address on the Register, by DNCL. Importantly, says Monahan, the masking option is open to any individual registrant who is concerned for whatever reason about having their contact address publicly visible. She encourages all individual registrants to make use of it if they feel the need. The address masking is a straightforward process, but can only be effected by DNCL. It works by having individual registrants email DNCL from their email address on record. The DNCL office will then run some basic verification checks before applying the masking. The option is not available to businesses or organisations. Visit dnc.org.nz/pamo <https://www.dnc.org.nz/pamo> to find out more about DNCL’s provisional address masking option. Information about DNCL’s WHOIS review can be found at https://dnc.org.nz/whois-review. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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