02.26.07
Posted in Geeking Out at 8:18 am by ryan
Sorry - more geeking out…
Why don’t PHP or even Perl have solid MIME processing libraries?
MIME has been around for ages! Have we given up on decoding it?
Why is something theoretically simple like adding an HTML block to the last visible portion (not attachment) of a MIME message so difficult? If only UTF-8 were developed a decade ago…
Sadly enough, the best package still seems to be MIME::Util from 199X… Even though reprocessing mail messages seems useful, it looks like everyone has given up on email.
On another note, wouldn’t it be nice if we had an XML standard for email? In addition to the obvious body, we could provide:
- In Reference To = “GUID from some other system”
- Reply-Quote references=”other message”
- Signature (so that your own sig can be stripped out of replies)
- Disclaimer (for your legal requirements)
These are each specific content types that should be treated separately.
PGP keys could also be propagated more easily.
The other big improvement I would love to see in email: XHTML Forms.
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02.20.07
Posted in Geeking Out, Linux, Mac OS X at 1:13 pm by ryan
I apologize in advance, but todays topic again is totally geeked out… Today, I have made the swtich from Terminal.app to iTerm, and I think it’s going to be a switch for good. The iTerm team has been cranking out a OS X Terminal Emulator for years, but they have made amazing strides lately and iTerm LOOKS BETTER than the build in Terminal. Of course, you get tabs and great unicode support too. I am very happy with the latest version of iTerm. If you frequently user Terminal, I highly recommend you give it a shot, again!
Note that if you use Chinese in your terminal, you’ll want to make sure that you’re configured for UTF-8. Use the settings on this page to enable full UTF-8 input and output.
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02.18.07
Posted in Geeking Out, Linux at 2:34 am by ryan
I should apologize to any regular readers, who likely don’t care one little bit about Linux, but I feel like I need to let people know, just in case anyone out there is pondering a new REDHAT install. DON’T!
I’ve been a RedHat user (though not necessarily direct administrator) for 7 years or so now. I was running around in 1999 with a 15.4″ OpenBSD powered laptop and attached Ricochet wireless modem. Ricochet is long since gone (though the name has been resurrected), though OpenBSD has powered along…
Back in 2000, I attempted putting OpenBSD to the torture test of a site I was managing, and OpenBSD failed miserably… After 2 dozen kernel recompiles and openbsd mailing list inquiries, I finally decided to thrown in OpenBSD’s towel and switch to *anything* that would work… My online shop was getting hammered and I just needed to help people buy. So, my good buddy Mark helped me install Mandrake, and I’ve been happily using various RedHat based Linuxes ever since.
Today, RedHat has failed me much as OpenBSD failed me back in 2000. RedHat didn’t simply crash under a heavy load (for the record, it’s never done that to me), but RedHat’s RPM Hell is just too much. I don’t have the time or the patience to continue wasting my time with yum and rpmfind whenever yum fails me.
There is a way out of RPM Hell. Ubuntu: Linux for human beings. If you’re considering a new Linux install, I implore you to give Ubuntu a shot. You most certainly thank me. Stop wgetting random RPMs from rpmfind each time Yum fails to deliver what you want. Finally, install most any package you are looking for, FAST. Spend the extra time getting your job done. Once you get Ubuntu installed, just run:
# Just use “apt-cache search some package“, for example:
apt-cache search tracker
# Ahh, found it. I wanted request-tracker3.4
sudo apt-get install request-tracker3.4
Enjoy.
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02.16.07
Posted in Geeking Out, Mac OS X at 9:01 am by ryan
If you attempt to connect Mac OS X’s address book to an LDAP Server via SSL you’re in for a bit of a surprise. Akin to Mac OS X’s haphazard support for SSL in Mail.app (SSL is hardcoded to ONLY work on port 993, if SSL is checked but a different port is selected, SSL will not be enabled)…
Well, this time around the error is less obvious, and easier to work around…
SSL services are generally “wrapped around” a protocol, which causes the protocol to require a separate port to operate. HTTPS and IMAPS are good examples of this. On the other hand, TLS protocols generally are a feature of a protocol, and can be activated in the middle of a session. SMTP is a good example of this.
In spite of their similarities, TLS and SSL are not necessarily compatible, though TLS can transform itself into SSLv3 in certain circumstances…
LDAP implementations would generally provide LDAP on port 389 and SSL LDAP (ldaps) on port 636. However, Apple AddressBook doesn’t actually do SSL, it does TLS, which is interwoven into the LDAP protocol and can happens port 389.
So, to securely use your LDAP server, you should select the “SSL” checkbox, but then override the port to 389.
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02.07.07
Posted in Uncategorized at 11:20 pm by ryan
Anti-China dark current exposes Cold War mentality: commentary (May 1st 2004)
I must confess that I’m opposed to the loss of human life in exchange for national interests in any case, be it the USA in Afgan, Iraq and or any nation anywhere else.
As is well known, the increase in recent years’ Chinese national defense expenditure is not only in step with China’s economic development, but also is in compliance with the new trend of global military revolution, so there is nothing to be surprised at. China’s current military spending is only about one/19th of that of America, and half of Japan’s. Quite a few American scholars have said that stopping Taiwan’s separatist activities is only part of China’s national defense objective, China’s strengthening of national defense building also contains many other considerations. Furthermore, the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair, so long as the United States does not tie itself with Taiwan to the same boat, then how can there be the idea about a military confrontation with China?
Taiwan is only a “domestic” Chinese issue in the way that the USA was a “domestic” UK issue in 1776. Or, what about Japan’s eastern provinces acquired during WWII? At that time, couldn’t interference in the eastern provinces (modern day, northern China) be considered interference in a Japanese domestic issue?
Economic and Political structures are temporary entities that allow us to coordinate and allocate resources. Sacrificing human life on the alter of the nationalism of ANY SUCH ORGANIZATION is as senseless to me as murder in the name of expanding the budget of your department.
If I haven’t done an adequately articulate job portraying my meaning here, please try to find a map that is stable - one with borders that are everlasting. If you do have the one true map please share it with the rest of us!
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